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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28113999">New Beginnings</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/quindelynn/pseuds/quindelynn'>quindelynn</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Stray Kids (Band)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - College/University, College Parties, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Kinda, Lee Felix sunshine, M/M, Making Out, New Beginnings, Slow Burn, Stalking, Volleyball, a few original characters but they're not important, boy drama but also mystery drama, lowkey changjin too, there's some drama I promise</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 23:02:34</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>41,643</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28113999</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/quindelynn/pseuds/quindelynn</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Jisung can't stand his high school volleyball rival, Lee Minho. So, of course, they end up on the same college team.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Han Jisung | Han/Lee Minho | Lee Know</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>105</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>376</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Fresh Meat</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>MY FIRST ATTEMPT AT SLOW BURN IM SORRY. Also, I sincerely apologize for the mistakes that will inevitably be made regarding volleyball. My knowledge stems solely from five minutes of googling and a healthy obsession with haikyuu :P. Also x2, sorry for adding some oc's. They're not at all important, I was just too lazy to include other idols lol.</p><p>GOOD NEWS THO, I have the entire story written (it's like 36k? at the moment), so it shouldn't take me too long to upload everything, I just haven't edited all of the chapters oop</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>Jisung remembered being in high school. It was his sophomore year. He was finally making his mark on the court, contributing heavily to the team’s impressive number of wins that season. He knew there were college scouts in the crowd; he knew this was his chance to make an impression. More than that; this game was his chance to help bring his teammates to the state tournament and to victory. His chance to finally see all of their hard work pay off.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Jisung could see it now, him and his teammates, laughing and crying and hugging as they all clutched at the championship trophy, fulfilling every high school athlete’s dream.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>And then the vision was gone. In its place stood a volleyball player, an older boy, too handsome for his no doubt vile personality. He was smirking at Jisung from across the net, hands still held above his head as the volleyball he had just blocked rolled on the ground behind Jisung. Jisung could hear the sound of a whistle ringing in his ears, simultaneously signalling the end of the game and Jisung’s sophomore season. Eliminated.</em>
</p><p>It had been two years since Jisung saw that smirk in person. Two years since his high school rival, none other than Lee Minho, had graduated and moved onto bigger and better things in the form of a college volleyball scholarship. Two years since Jisung’s best shot at winning the state championship had been cut short. His team had never been as good after their seniors left, and Jisung alone wasn’t enough to carry the team to states.</p><p>Jisung saw Minho whenever he watched volleyball on TV, and sure, maybe he knew their schedule and scores by heart. But that had less to do with Minho himself and more to do with the fact that Jisung had had his heart set on going to a certain university since he’d been old enough to know what university was. </p><p>It was just a cruel coincidence that Lee Minho happened to attend that same school.</p><p>Which was the series of unfortunate events that led to Jisung standing the length of his new university’s gym away from that hated smirk in person for the first time since sophomore year.</p><p>“Does anyone have any questions?”</p><p>Jisung finally focused back in on the gruff man speaking. His new volleyball coach was in his mid-fifties, with the salt and pepper hair to prove it. He’d obviously been very fit in his youth, but now his belly hung over the edge of his belt, evidence of a healthy relationship with desserts.</p><p>Jisung liked his new coach. When he’d been approached with a volleyball scholarship from the school of his dreams, he’d been ecstatic. The coach was kind of a stickler when it came to volleyball, but Jisung liked that. The coach was demanding, but Jisung was more than willing to put in the work. After all, he was nothing if not competitive.</p><p>Jisung had spent the last few months of his summer in contact with the coach and other academic advisors, going over scheduling dates for meetings and scholarship information and class schedules and all of the other boring stuff that came along with the actual school part of being a student athlete.</p><p>So it was no surprise that he, along with the other three new freshmen, shook their heads. No questions. The coach nodded, said he’d see them tomorrow bright and early for morning practice, and left Jisung and the other new freshmen in the gym with the rest of their new teammates.</p><p>Now the fun would begin.</p><p>This was a moment that Jisung had found himself dreading ever since he’d signed with this university to play four years of volleyball for their team. He loved the sport, but seeing Lee Minho again put a sour taste in his mouth. </p><p>Jisung couldn’t help but wonder if Lee remembered him. They’d definitely had an intense rivalry during high school; Minho spent most of their games attempting to block Jisung, while Jisung tried his very best to spike the shit out of the ball and put Minho in his place. Minho had been more skilled, and he had more experience under his belt, but Jisung had always had the determination and motivation of an Olympic player. In the end, they’d been just about evenly matched.</p><p>However, Jisung lost contact with Minho when he graduated. It was inevitable; they’d only ever exchanged words before and after games, in addition to their trash talk across the net during sets. And considering their words had never been of the friendly sort, it was no surprise that they’d never exchanged contact information.</p><p>And now Lee Minho was strutting across the gym floor towards him with the other returning players. He and Jisung’s other new teammates walked over from where they’d been waiting, lounging around on some of the lower levels of the practice gym’s bleachers. They were various heights and builds, but they all had one thing in common; they were some of the fittest people Jisung had ever seen.</p><p>A relatively (compared to most volleyball players) short boy stepped forward with an easy smile. Jisung couldn’t decide what deserved his attention the most, the curly hair or the dimples. Or maybe the well-defined arms peeking out of his sleeveless black shirt. Definitely the muscles.</p><p>“Hey,” he said. “My name is Chris.” God. An australian accent on top of everything? “I also go by Chan. You can call me whatever name you want, I don’t really care. Whatever you call me, I’m your new captain.” He stuck out his hand towards the four freshmen who were standing awkwardly before him.</p><p>Jisung and the other freshmen shook his hand. It was sturdy and calloused from years handling a volleyball. Jisung had researched most of the people on the team before he’d even arrived for their training. He’d even met a few of the players over the summer to see if he would be a good fit for their team, but he hadn’t met Chris. From his stats online though, he was a dependable setter and leader.</p><p>Obviously Jisung wasn’t the only one who’d done his research, because when one of the other freshmen (Seungmin, if he recalled correctly) shook Chris’ hand, he said, “It’s really nice to meet you. I can’t wait to learn from you. Your control of the ball and awareness of the court is unparalleled.”</p><p>Chris, who had looked intimidating despite his easy smile, ruined the effect by blushing bright red in his ears. He chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment as the other guys behind him started snickering at his embarassment.</p><p>“Thank you,” Chris said, his eyes crinkling. Then he cleared his throat. “But anyway, I’m going to be the one leading introductions here. I know the four of you have met some of your teammates already, but this is the first time we’ve had the new team all together in one place.”</p><p>Then Chris made a sheepish smile and indicated for them all to stand in a circle. “I know it’s kind of cliche, but why don’t we all go around the circle and say our name, grade, position, and a fun fact about ourselves?”</p><p>The eleven or so boys standing around the gym groaned, but did as their captain said and prepared to go through the dreaded icebreaker. Jisung stayed silent, but shared the sentiment. As a self-declared introvert, he was not a fan of icebreakers. He just wanted to skip the ‘getting-to-know-you’ part of meeting his teammates and get right to the ‘we’re best friends so I feel comfortable being myself around you’ part.</p><p>“So my name is Chris Bang,” said Chris. “I’m a senior. I play setter, and my fun fact is that I’m from Australia.” He grinned when everyone groaned again.</p><p>The boy next to him slapped him on the arm in indignation, saying, “Oh c’mon Chris. Literally everyone knows that. What’s fun about that?” Then he looked at the freshmen and grinned. “My name is Changbin, I’m a sophomore, and I play outside hitter.”</p><p>Changbin flexed one of his arms through his muscle tee, showing off an impressive bicep in a goofy sort of way. Jisung swore he heard the long-haired freshman (Hyunjin? Man, he needed to get better at names) gulp. </p><p>‘Lol same,’ he thought. Was literally everyone hot?</p><p>Then Changbin continued, saying, “And my fun fact is that I have sixty-nine thousand followers on Soundcloud.” He said this with a proud tint to his voice, obviously expecting some form of awe from Jisung and the others.</p><p>Instead, he and everyone else heard Seungmin try and fail to hold in a snort. This was followed by his eyes widening as everyone turned to look at him. The effect on the team was instantaneous. Jisung laughed so hard that his eyes started watering, and Chris attempted to pat Changbin on the back consolingly but missed his shoulder because he was shaking from laughing too much.</p><p>Once the collective laughter died down, save for a few last chuckles, the room was feeling significantly less stiff. Despite Jisung’s best efforts to hate the icebreaker, it had successfully done just that; break the ice.</p><p>That still didn’t mean he was looking forward to talking though. As the introductions continued, he imagined his mouth opening and words coming out. He imagined what he would say and willed his voice to stay strong and not break in the middle. It would be just his luck if he embarrassed himself in front of his teammates and stupid Lee Minho.</p><p>There were only eleven of them on the roster, a small team, so it was no surprise that the rest of the introductions went fast. There were two seniors total, Chris and Darnell, who was a middle blocker. Darnell was one of the people Jisung had met over the summer. He’d seemed chill, which Jisung enjoyed. As a decidedly hyper guy, sometimes Jisung needed someone to reign him back in and remember to relax. </p><p>Jisung had also met the juniors, Ethan and Isaac. They played libero and opposite hitter respectively. Jisung had really enjoyed spending time with the two of them and Darnell, and he was excited to get to know them on a more personal level.</p><p>Then there was the other sophomore from Changbin’s year, an amazingly buff boy named Malik, who introduced himself as a right-side hitter. Jisung was exceedingly glad that they were on the same team. He didn’t want to get on that guy’s bad side.</p><p>Minho was the last non-freshman to introduce himself. He stood next to Felix, Jisung’s new roommate, seeming relaxed, a nonchalant look on his face. Jisung couldn’t help the derision that rose within him. Who was Minho to look so above everyone else? Of all their teammates, he was the only one not dressed in some form of shorts or sweats. Jisung himself was decked out in his favorite Adidas joggers and oversized sweatshirt, like a normal college athlete. Minho, on the other hand, was wearing dark jeans that looked like they could’ve been designer, along with a sweater that was infinitely finer than anything Jisung owned.</p><p>For a college student, he sure looked expensive.</p><p>“Hi,” Minho said, withdrawing one of his hands from his pocket to give a short wave. “My name is Lee Minho. I’m a junior. I play middle blocker.” He gave a shrug. “I guess my fun fact is that I have three cats that I like infinitely better than any person I’ve ever met.”</p><p>Jisung found himself unable to hold in his snort. Unlike Seungmin’s earlier, there was a malicious air in his humor at Minho’s words. For the first time since their eyes had met briefly when Jisung had walked in the gym, Minho made direct eye contact, raising one eyebrow.</p><p>“Yeah? Do you have something to say, fresh meat?” he asked, his sweet tone doing nothing to mask the bite underneath.</p><p>Jisung raised his hands, trying and failing to look like he meant no harm. “Oh nothing,” he said, his plans to keep his mouth shut until his turn flying out the window before he had a chance to even think about what he was saying, “I was just thinking to myself that it’s a good thing you’ve got cats to keep you company with an attitude like that.” Towards the end of his sentence, Jisung couldn’t fully contain his expression, and his lips twitched into a smirk. His attempt to feign an innocent tone was unsuccessful.</p><p>Minho narrowed his eyes. “That’s funny, because I’m pretty sure my cats are the closest you’ll ever get to getting some puss-”</p><p>“Minho!” Chris interjected, aghast. “Why are you talking like that?” he said, glancing back and forth between Jisung and Minho with an incredulous expression. “Do you,” he said, pointing at them each with one hand, “know each other?”</p><p>“Know is a strong word,” said Minho disdainfully, completely ignoring Jisung to look at Chris matter-of-factly. “We played against each other in high school for a couple years.” Ah. So Lee Minho <em>did</em> remember him. Since he wasn’t looking at Jisung, he didn’t see the freshman cross his arms and stick his tongue out at him.</p><p>But Chris did, and he glowered at the two of them, his good mood gone.</p><p>“I don’t know what kind of rivalry the two of you had in high school,” he started, holding up a hand when it looked like Minho wanted to interrupt, “but we’re all on the same team now. If the two of you can’t get along, you’ll hold everyone back.”</p><p>Jisung shrank under Chris’ gaze. He felt heat rise up in his cheeks as the team all looked at him. God, why had he said that stuff? What had come over him? Sure, he didn’t like Lee’s attitude, but now he’d gone and fucked up his plan to fly under the radar until he was more comfortable with his teammates. </p><p>At least his voice hadn’t broken.</p><p>Jisung was feeling properly chastened. Then he looked at Minho and saw his smug look. The older athlete didn’t even have the decency to pretend to look apologetic. Jisung’s annoyance came roaring back to life in full force.</p><p>Chris shook his head, knowing he hadn’t fully gotten through to either of them. Then he sighed, gesturing for the freshmen to go ahead with their own introductions.</p><p>After a few seconds, the kid with dyed blond hair who was next in the circle was finally the one to break the silence. It was the first time jisung had heard him speak, and hearing a voice that deep come out of a body that slight was definitely a shocker.</p><p>“My name is Felix Lee, and I play libero. My fun fact was going to be that I’m from Australia, but that one was already taken, so I guess I’ll just say that I like dogs.” His sentence trailed off, getting steadily quieter at the end. He’d obviously been hoping to get a couple laughs out of the group, but the tension in the air stifled any chance of that and he knew it.</p><p>So Felix just gestured helplessly at Hyunjin, who said, “My name is Hwang Hyunjin. I’m a middle blocker, and I guess my fun fact is that I really like to dance?” His voice was also weaker than it had been before. It was exceedingly obvious that the other freshmen were not happy to have already seen their captain’s less-than-pleased face only minutes into knowing him.</p><p>Seungmin’s voice was stronger, and Jisung admired his backbone. He guessed having nerves of steel was probably pretty important when it came to being a successful setter. </p><p>“I’m Kim Seungmin, I play setter, and I’m planning on joining the photography club.”</p><p>And then it was Jisung’s turn.</p><p>“Well,” said Jisung, “I’m Han Jisung, an outside hitter.” He opened his mouth to tell the group how he really liked writing lyrics in his spare time, when he caught Minho’s eye yet again. The older teammate said nothing, but he made a deliberate show of rolling his eyes. His expression was clear; <em>‘some outside hitter.’</em></p><p>And Jisung lost his temper for the second time, fears of a breaking voice evaporating into the wind. “My fun fact,” he said, almost spitting out the words, “is that my team definitely would’ve won states my sophomore year in high school if <em>someone</em>,” he glared right back at Minho, “hadn’t eliminated my team by playing dirty.”</p><p>Minho’s face twisted in outrage.</p><p>“Excuse you,” Minho said venomously, “we won fair and square. Don’t be a sore loser, loser.”</p><p>Jisung wasn’t sure what he would’ve done if Chris hadn’t physically placed himself between the two of them, his broad shoulder obscuring any chance of Jisung seeing Minho’s stupid face.</p><p>“This is ridiculous and absolutely uncalled for. The two of you <em>will</em> get along or so help me,” Chris said, trailing off and looking back and forth between them with a controlled expression. “In fact,” he continued, his eyes brightening and his lips curling into a devious smile, “I have just the idea.”</p><p>Chris turned to Jisung and the other freshman, and with a voice sweet enough to kill, said, “As coach probably mentioned to you sometime this summer, our team has a little tradition. We pair the freshman up with older players on the team, have them show the freshmen the ropes. Our mentors and mentees spend hours together every day, becoming partners against the world.”</p><p>Jisung’s heart sank into his stomach as he guessed where Chris was going with this. </p><p>“Usually we try to pair you up by position. So Felix with Ethan, Seungmin with me, Hyunjin with Minho, and Jisung with Changbin. However,” Chris continued, right as Jisung started to think he’d escaped punishment, “I’m going to make an exception this year.”</p><p>Chris pointed at Minho. “You and Changbin are going to switch partners. After all, what better way to get to know someone than spend hundreds of hours with them during the semester?”</p><p>Chris was evil. Jisung had never simultaneously respected and hated someone so much in such a short period of time.</p><p>“Chris!” Minho started to say, but Chris cut him off with a sharp look.</p><p>“Don’t <em>Chris</em> me, Minho. The two of you have only been in the same room for thirty minutes and you’ve already managed to throw off the group dynamic.” Then he smiled his friendly smile again. Jisung thought he might get whiplash from how quickly Chris seemed to shift from angry to truly pleased. “I actually think this could be very productive for everyone. At the very least, it will be very amusing for me.”</p><p>And that was that. Minho shot Jisung a scathing look, which Jisung shot right back, his anxiety at being the center of attention long gone.</p><p>
  <em>Jisung was a highschool freshman, the only one to make varsity. He knew he was good, but that didn’t stop him from worrying about pleasing all of his older teammates. It’s not that they were mean or anything; on the contrary, they’d been very accepting. Still, Jisung couldn’t help the thoughts that would run through his head, about not being good enough, about them secretly hating him for stealing some of their playing time, about him being younger. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>The list went on and on. Jisung felt like there were eyes on him at all times, waiting for him to trip, to prove their assumptions that he wasn’t good enough for varsity right. He walked on eggshells at all times, trying not to stand out lest he be seen as unskilled. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>However, this worked both ways; as he tried his best to not make mistakes, Jisung found himself holding back, not taking risks. As a result, he knew he wasn’t putting his best foot forward.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>It was after his second game of the season that he met Lee Minho. Jisung had spent the entire game playing his hardest, but his hardest hadn’t been good enough. When it had come to the last play of the game, and the ball had been set to Jisung, he’d gotten blocked. He’d gotten blocked good. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>The other team’s middle blocker, who Jisung would later learn was Lee Minho, had read him like an open book. The older player had realized sometime during their previous two sets that Jisung wasn’t going to make any out-of-the-box plays, sticking solely to the tried-and-true basics. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>So when Jisung wound up for yet another basic cross shot, despite the effort Jisung put into spiking it with all his might, Minho had blocked him with practiced ease and ended the game before the freshman had even had the time to react to what was happening.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>So maybe it was no surprise that Jisung was on edge when Lee Minho approached him after the game. Jisung had been minding his business, untying his shoes while perched on the bottom row of bleachers, when the junior had walked over to him and introduced himself.</em>
</p><p><em>Jisung could do nothing except freeze and stare up at the boy in disbelief. Disbelief that a junior was talking to him, disbelief that said junior was from the opposing team, disbelief that said junior was literally one of the most handsome people he’d ever met, and yet was talking to</em> him <em>of all people.</em></p><p>
  <em>Jisung barely managed to choke out his own introduction, but Lee Minho just smiled at his garbled words.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“That was a good game you played,” said Lee Minho. “I haven’t seen you on this team before, did you just move here?” If Jisung had been in his right mind, he might’ve noticed the flirty smile that accompanied Minho’s question.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Jisung flushed. Had Minho watched the same game Jisung had? What about that could be considered a good game. It also didn’t help that Minho seemed to be under the impression that Jisung was older than he was. It was understandable; their high school league was extremely skilled and competitive, making it exceedingly difficult for freshmen to make it onto their varsity teams, let alone play. Even sophomores usually rode the bench for most of the season.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>It was a natural assumption for Minho to make; if Jisung hadn’t been on the bench the year before as a sophomore, then he must be an older player who had moved from another school.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>When Jisung responded, “No,” he could tell his voice sounded a bit bitter, even to himself.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Minho seemed to notice, but he didn’t acknowledge it or say anything. He just tilted his head, an obvious indication of puzzlement.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>So Jisung continued, saying, “It’s my first year on the team because I’m a freshman.” Then he laughed bitterly. “Don’t know why they let me in, though.” He tried to make his comment sound self-deprecating in a funny way, even throwing a chuckle in at the end.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Oh,” said Lee Minho, making a weird expression. He seemed….disappointed? No, that couldn’t be right, what was there to be disappointed about? So Jisung went with the next assumption; Lee Minho was ticked that Jisung had been given this opportunity on varsity and was flubbing it, just like everyone else.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Jisung felt his stomach drop for a second. And then he swallowed. And then he was angry. Who was this stranger to come up to him and have the audacity to be disappointed in his play? Only he was allowed to do that.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Won’t stop me from getting better and beating your ass next time we play, though,” said Jisung spitefully.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Lee’s eyes widened, seemingly realizing the impression he had given. “Oh, no, I was just,” he started, raising his hands and shaking his head, obviously trying to appease Jisung. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>But Jisung cut him off mid-sentence as he jumped to his feet, sneakers in hand and eyes blazing. “No, it’s fine. Don’t apologize. I’ll earn my spot. I’ll show you. I’ll show you and everyone else.” Then Jisung spun on his heels and stomped out of the gym, striding out of the gym with the weight of Lee Minho’s eyes on his back.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>At that moment, Jisung stopped apologizing. He stopped playing it safe for the sake of others. He took risks and messed up, improved, took risks again, and steadily earned his place as one of the best players on his team despite his age.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>And when his team played Lee Minho’s team in the second half of the season, he spiked the ball right past stupid Lee Minho’s face on his own home court and never looked back.</em>
</p><p>When Jisung used to look at Lee Minho’s face in high school, he saw the face of his rival. He saw the face of everyone who ever doubted him, every older athlete who thought he was privileged despite the hard work he put in, who disliked him simply because he was better. </p><p>Jisung simultaneously saw a good player who didn’t even realize how easy he had it. Lee Minho hadn’t had to prove himself the way Jisung had. (And it had annoyed him to no end when countless girls would come to watch Lee Minho play, even though it made beating him all that much better.)</p><p>Now, as Jisung looked across the small circle of athletes at the face of the player who used to be his biggest rival, he saw only a new type of competition. One that he was going to win.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Initiation</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>um so here's the second chapter. this bitch is so much longer than the first one lol. also, i'm still not sure how i feel about the flashbacks? idk we'll see. and hullo, please accept my attempt at slow burn, it's so freaking hard i just want ~kithes~</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Jisung awoke to shouts and the startling feeling of being jostled out of bed. He was tugged to his feet, his sheets a tangled mess around his bare torso. His sleep-addled brain was barely able to make out Felix on the other side of the room being subjected to the same treatment.</p><p>Within seconds, the adrenaline kicked in and his stupor was gone. Once Jisung recovered his wits, he was finally able to make sense of what was happening around him. There were way too many people crammed into his and Felix’s tiny dorm room as he took in the forms of a couple of his new teammates with wide eyes while an equally disgruntled Felix did the same.</p><p>Even with only the dim light from the hallway coming through the open door, Jisung could see Changbin was the one who had pulled him out of bed. Before Jisung could react, Changbin pushed him towards the hallway with hands that were simultaneously gentle and firm; Changbin wasn’t hurting him, but Jisung was definitely going to go where Changbin wanted him to go. Following the two of them out into the dorm hallway was Ethan, guiding a dishevelled Felix.</p><p>Once in the hallway, Jisung saw Hyunjin and Seungmin being led out of their dorm room directly across from Jisung and Felix’s room. The two of them had obviously been awoken in the same way that Jisung and Felix had; they were both dressed for sleeping, their hair sticking out in every direction.</p><p>Within seconds, the four freshmen had been herded into a line in front of their captain, who was standing with crossed arms in the middle of the hallway. Chris’ face was split by the biggest shit-eating grin Jisung had ever seen.</p><p>“Good morning, sleepy heads,” said Chris, looking far too awake for whatever time it was.</p><p>Jisung glared at the Australian while Seungmin let out a quiet groan of displeasure.</p><p>“What….what time is it?” asked Felix groggily, voice deep and gravelly, at odds with the cute way he rubbed at his eyes in an effort to wake up.</p><p>“This, my friends, is initiation,” said Chris, spreading his arms wide, white teeth blinding in the dim hallway light.</p><p>“Are we being hazed?” said Seungmin, voice strong. The thought hadn’t even occurred to Jisung. Hyunjin was also caught off guard by the idea, worried, if the concerned noise he made was any indication.</p><p>Chris blinked. “No! Oh my god, no. Well, actually, kind of. But no! We’re just gonna play some volleyball at midnight. If anyone is actually uncomfortable, just tell us and we’ll stop and talk it out. This,” he said, turning around and starting to lead them down the hallway, the cheer returning to his voice, “is supposed to be fun.”</p><p>The curly-haired captain led the team out of the freshman dorm. Since none of the other students had moved back onto campus for the start of classes yet (with the exception of the football players also there for their fall training), there was no one to tell them to stop or question what they were doing in the middle of the night. Within minutes, Jisung and the others had made their way to the practice gym. It was obviously closed; Jisung could see no obvious lights from the outside.</p><p>Chris walked confidently through the front door, pulling out a single brick that had been propping it open. Once inside, he navigated the way through the hallways, lit only by their emergency lights. He flicked on the lights as he entered their practice gym, which already had a single net set up in the center of the court.</p><p>“Welcome,” Chris said, turning towards the freshmen, arms spread wide in a gesture to their surroundings, “to campus.”</p><p>If he was expecting some applause or exclamations of excitement, he was sorely mistaken. Jisung looked around curiously for a sign that something about the gym was different now versus the way it had been seven hours ago. Hyunjin tugged at his boxers to keep them from riding up. Felix made the most valiant effort at holding in a yawn that Jisung had ever seen.</p><p>Chris rolled his eyes at their lack of enthusiasm. “Okay, I know you’re tired. But this is our tradition. We’re not technically allowed to hold practices until the official start of the season. So, every year we always have our first practice at midnight on the first day of the season.”</p><p>Jisung liked that. He liked that their team was motivated enough to want to practice at all hours, that they were so excited for the season to start that they couldn’t wait until morning. He especially liked that they had traditions, ways to bring their players together.</p><p>However, there was still one question that hadn’t been answered.</p><p>“If we’re going to be practicing, then why aren’t we wearing clothes?” asked Hyunjin, the first time he’d spoken since being forcibly dragged from his bed.</p><p>Yeah, that.</p><p>Changbin started cracking up, followed by Ethan and Isaac. Even Darnell couldn’t hold in a chuckle.</p><p>“That’s the part that could maybe technically be considered hazing,” Chris said sheepishly. “It’s just really funny to watch the freshmen run around in their pajamas. Once again, if anyone wants to go back to the dorm, that’s totally fine. We also probably have some extra clothes lying around in the locker room if anyone wants a practice shirt,” he said, gesturing to Jisung and Felix’s bare chests. “Or shorts,” he added as an afterthought, taking in Hyunjin’s bare legs covered only by a pair of lime green boxers peeking out from under an oversized t-shirt.</p><p>Jisung, despite being one of the unfortunate souls not wearing a shirt, was beyond glad that he’d worn his flannel pants to bed last night instead of boxers. Felix, dressed similarly, was probably feeling the same way. Only Seungmin was closest to what could be considered ‘fully clothed,’ wearing sleep pants and a large t-shirt. Not that he would want to play volleyball in them regardless.</p><p>However, as Jisung looked at his fellow freshmen classmates, he could see the same steel that he was feeling enter their eyes. It was no surprise; despite their different dispositions, they were all college athletes. You didn’t get to the collegiate level without being competitive</p><p>No one was going to change, not without looking like they couldn’t take a little heat. Jisung could feel adrenaline start to spread throughout his body. It was the feeling he lived for, the feeling he got before a big game. He loved the way his instincts worked overtime in the face of a challenge.</p><p>The fact that all of his teammates seemed to be on the same level was exhilarating. Jisung’s high school team had been competitive, but he was always the one putting in the extra hours. Here, he was surrounded by people just like him.</p><p>So when Chris grabbed a volleyball from the utility closet, Jisung grinned and stepped confidently out onto the court. The rest of his teammates filed in behind him. As they only had eleven players, there weren’t enough of them to make two teams. Not that it would have mattered, since they didn’t have two players in every position anyway.</p><p>So, since there was no logical way to divide themselves, they did it the way only immature young men would; freshmen versus everyone else. Jisung, Felix, Hyunjin, and Seungmin all gathered on one side of the net while everyone else smooshed onto the other side.</p><p>Changbin was still giggling to himself when Chris walked back onto the court. Then Chris clapped Changbin on the back and said, “Changbin, go play with the freshmen.” The giggles quickly stopped.</p><p>“But Chris,” Changbin whined, about to complain. Chris just raised his eyebrows. Changbin’s shoulders slumped, and he made no further complaints as he ducked under the net to stand beside a grinning Felix.</p><p>With the teams now standing at five versus six, they began to play. Obviously, no one had done any stretching or warmups, so no one was attempting to play all out. After all, they didn’t want to have someone get hurt before the season had even started.</p><p>And yet, this was the most fun Jisung had had in a long time.</p><p>Despite the fact that he was wearing flannel sleep pants and sneakers that definitely weren’t made for wearing on a volleyball court, he had never felt so alive. It was like his body was responding to his thoughts before he’d even thought them. </p><p>Jisung had never played with the other freshmen or Changbin, but they were connected on a level that Jisung would never have anticipated. Felix was amazing at receiving (as expected of a libero), and since they didn’t really have to worry about rotations during a low-key friendly game like this, Felix spent much of the scrimmage passing the ball in neat little arcs to Seungmin to set. Changbin, Hyunjin, and Jisung situated themselves in the front line, all viable hitters for Seungmin to utilize.</p><p>When Jisung spiked for the first time that night, he couldn’t have stopped the grin that made its way onto his face if he had tried. The wind whistling through his hair as he landed light on his feet, the sounds of triumph from the teammates on his side of the net, and the groans from the opposite side. They were just a few of the reasons that he loved volleyball so much.</p><p>Hyunjin was on fire, blocking people left and right. Of course, Jisung and Changbin helped, but Hyunjin was an absolute beast. He read their opponents’ movements like it was what he was born to do. He timed their jumps and Jisung felt as though his own defensive performance was improved just by playing next to him.</p><p>Of course, this didn’t mean they were winning. Not by a long shot. For every point they scored, Chris and Minho and the others would score two more. When they did score, it was only after long, intense rallies that left Jisung breathless. He was sweating within minutes, his flannel pants sticking to his legs while his bare chest glistened in a way that he hoped made him look athletic and not flushed and red.</p><p>The first time Jisung came up against Minho on the other side of the net, he almost faltered. It had been two years since he’d seen the middle blocker’s intense stare up close. Jisung had almost forgotten how intense the older boy could be. Jisung jumped up to spike the ball past him, landing on his feet with a gloating smile when it soared past Minho’s face to slam into the ground for a point.</p><p>The next time they matched up, Minho shoved the ball right back in his face for a block point.</p><p>Still, it wasn’t just Jisung facing Minho alone. He had the other freshmen and Changbin on his side. The other outside hitter was a force to be reckoned with, spiking the ball with a force and precision that Jisung hoped he would also achieve someday practicing with this team.</p><p>After about thirty minutes of nonstop playing back and forth, Chris called for a break. Hyunjin slumped to the ground immediately, splayed spread-eagle on the court, no doubt exhausted from the constant jumping required of middle blockers.</p><p>Jisung followed their older teammates towards the bleachers and some water bottles, watching with detached interest as Changbin stood looking down at Hyunjin for half a second too long before reaching out a hand to help the freshman up. Had he….? Had Changbin been checking out Hyunjin’s legs?</p><p>If Jisung hadn’t been totally out of energy, he might’ve spared more than a single thought to this development. As it was, his brain quickly focused on the water bottle being held in front of his face. Jisung tilted the water bottle upside down and chugged, spilling a little down his chin.</p><p>As he wiped his mouth, a bit embarrassed, he saw that it was none other than Minho who had handed him the water bottle. Which meant, of course, that Minho had seen him spill water on himself like a child. Great.</p><p>Jisung could see Minho eyeing the droplets that Jisung hadn’t wiped off, trickling their way down his chin to his neck and collarbone. Jisung opened his mouth to defend himself, hoping to cut off the snarky comment Minho was sure to make, but stopped himself when Minho just averted his eyes and turned his attention back to his own water bottle. If Jisung hadn’t known better, he might’ve thought that Minho was blushing, and not just flushed from the exercise. </p><p>Before Jisung could say anything, Hyunjin and Changbin walked over. Jisung held out the water bottle wordlessly to the two of them, and Hyunjin grabbed it first. He took a deep long drink, then handed it to Changbin, who draped himself over Hyunjin’s shoulders. </p><p>“Thank you, my favorite mentee,” Changbin said once he’d drunk his fill.</p><p>Hyunjin rolled his eyes, but Jisung could’ve sworn that Hyunjin’s ears flushed just the tiniest amount. “I’m your only mentee.”</p><p>Changbin made an overexaggerated face of realization that earned him a shove from Hyunjin, and then the two of them were tussling good-naturedly. Jisung took that as his cue to leave and walked over to where Seungmin and Felix were talking with some of the older players.</p><p>Felix and Ethan were excitedly discussing each other’s playing styles and the potential libero-specific drills Ethan could teach Felix. Seungmin, on the other hand, seemed calm and collected. Still, Jisung could see the underlying excitement in his words when he asked Chris about specific plays that the older player had made during their practice scrimmage.</p><p>Feeling left out, Jisung stopped walking before he fully reached them, leaving himself stranded between the two groups of boys, alone. Just as he was starting to feel the anxiety of being left out kick in, someone slumped over his shoulder with their full weight. Jisung barely managed to remain standing, staggering a few steps before he was able to support them both. He was entirely surprised to see that the dead weight was none other than Minho. </p><p>Jisung didn’t have a reason for the way he reacted. Or rather, the way he <em>didn’t</em> react. His first instinct <em>should</em> have been to push the older player off immediately, seeing as they didn’t like each other. However, now that he wasn’t exerting energy anymore, the air conditioning was starting to chill the sweat on his skin, leaving him cold. Where Minho’s body touched his own, it was warm.</p><p>Jisung must’ve been going crazy. He blamed it on exhaustion.</p><p>So Jisung just raised an eyebrow and stood stock still, trying not to spook Minho. “Can I help you?” he asked, voice still slightly breathless from the practice.</p><p>Minho just hummed. Jisung could feel the vibrations against his bare back. Was this Minho’s way of trying to put the past behind them? Minho wrapped one of his hands around one of Jisung’s biceps and squeezed. </p><p>Jisung knew he had filled out in the years since Minho graduated. He wasn’t the same scrawny little high school sophomore Minho had known. So when Minho leaned his face in next to Jisung’s ear, Jisung shouldn’t have been surprised when he whispered, “You may not look like a little kid anymore, but you sure do drink like one. Maybe you should try to get the water in your mouth next time.”</p><p>Jisung whirled around within Minho’s grasp, face outraged. Minho drops his arms as Jisung poked at his chest. “Listen here, my inability to get things in my mouth has nothing to do with my ability on the court.” It took Jisung a second to realize what he’d said. His eyes widened, and he scrambled to clear up his statement. “I mean, things like water, not like, you know….”</p><p>Jisung’s words trailed off when Minho laughed. Then, for the first time ever, the two of them were laughing together. Jisung’s heart was pounding, like he was playing with fire, or attempting to tame a wild cat.</p><p>The water break came to an end quickly after that. The team returned to the court, after switching up the players. Jisung started to get a feel for how each of his teammates played. They each had different attitudes and dispositions, but at the heart of everything, there was a desire to win. Jisung couldn’t wait to play with them seriously.</p><p>At around two in the morning, Chris finally called it quits. This time, Hyunjin wasn’t the only one to slump to the ground in exhaustion. Once they’d picked themselves up and rehydrated, Chris made sure to get all of the freshmen’s' phone numbers. </p><p>Right as Jisung was about to walk out the door with the other freshmen, he heard the sound of someone calling out his name, and he turned to look.</p><p>“Jisung! Felix!” called Ethan. The junior reached them and held out two shirts, beaming. “Here! Some extra practice shirts. So you’re not walking around campus naked.” Ethan didn’t sound like he cared all that much. “Minho told me to bring them over,” he finished with an eye roll.</p><p>Okay, so that made even less sense. However, Jisung was too tired to think through the implications of Minho giving a shit whether or not Felix and him were wearing shirts at two in the morning on an empty campus.</p><p>“What about me?” asked Hyunjin, pouting.</p><p>Ethan just shrugged. “Sorry, man, Minho only handed me the shirts.”</p><p>Hyunjin’s pout deepened. Seungmin snickered. Jisung said nothing and just pulled the shirt on over his head. By the time his head popped out, Felix had also pulled his shirt on, and the group was ready to depart.</p><p>As Jisung walked back to the freshman dorm with Felix, Hyunjin, and Seungmin, he could feel his phone buzzing in his pocket with countless new messages from the team group chat he’d been added to. The initiation had done its job beautifully; Jisung and the other freshmen were already feeling like they were a part of the team. </p><p>Not only that, but Jisung felt like he’d made some progress with Lee Minho. Maybe they weren’t friends yet, but Jisung didn’t think it was right to call him his rival anymore. At least not outside of practice.</p><p>As a result, despite the late hour, Jisung found he couldn’t wait to wake up to see what the next day had in store.</p><p>Of course, that excitement didn’t last long. The next day, Jisung was once again awoken by his teammates instead of his alarm clock. With a sick sense of deja vu, Jisung squinted angrily up through his bangs at the smiling faces of Ethan and Minho.</p><p>“What the fuck,” Jisung said, voice gravelly. Felix echoed his sentiments from across the room by groaning and dragging his blanket back over his head. Jisung barely had time to watch Ethan drag the blanket away from Felix’s grabbing hands before Minho was fully blocking his view.</p><p>Jisung forced his eyes to focus on the middle blocker. He tried to channel all of the indignation he felt into his expression. Minho acknowledged this by grinning even wider and grabbing a fistful of Jisung’s blanket.</p><p>Jisung’s eyes widened, and he instinctively wrapped both arms into his precious, warm, none-of-Minho’s-business blanket. Within seconds, the two of them were engaged in the tug-of-war battle of the century. By the end of it, Minho had managed to tug Jisung onto the ground, but Jisung had successfully held onto his blanket.</p><p>Jisung glared up at Minho and resisted the urge to stick his tongue out. Minho just rolled his eyes, saying, “C’mon, you big baby. Get up. We’re going to work out.”</p><p>Jisung stood up and walked past Minho to his closet, bumping Minho’s shoulder with his own harder than absolutely necessary. “Fine.”</p><p>With Felix and Jisung grumbling the entire time, the two freshmen managed to pull on shorts and t-shirts. The group of four then made their way into the hallway, meeting up with the other two freshmen and their mentors, Changbin and Chris.</p><p>They made it all the way out of the dorm before Jisung managed to wake up enough to ask, “So why couldn’t we just walk to the gym on our own? Was dragging us out of bed, <em>again</em>, really necessary?”</p><p>Chris just laughed. “Necessary? Of course not. Fun? Absolutely.”</p><p>So their group of eight walked together to the weight room reserved for their scheduled morning team workouts. Jisung was unsurprised to see that they were the first ones there; in order to make sure that they woke the freshmen up before they got up on their own, the mentors had needed to arrive significantly earlier than necessary. As a result, it was a whopping five-thirty iin the morning, when Jisung technically could have still been sleeping.</p><p>But he and the others just sucked it up and began their warm up. Now, Jisung was a college athlete. He knew how essential exercising and training was to performing at his best; but that didn’t mean he had to like it.</p><p>So he was content to simply follow Chris’ instructions while they did some stretching as a team. It didn’t escape Jisung’s notice that Hyunjin didn’t seem to have the same mentality; the middle blocker was going above, showing off his flexible limbs. Jisung tried to resist feeling jealous as he struggled to touch his toes.</p><p>Jisung was preparing himself to slack off just the slightest amount. After all, it was only the first day. From the way Chris had described the itinerary, it was just supposed to be an introduction of sorts, to get the new team members used to this specific weight room and their team’s way of utilizing it.</p><p>However, Jisung’s plans to slip under the radar were dashed when Chris announced, “Okay, now the returning players are going to pair up, and the freshmen are going to get with their mentors.”</p><p>Jisung only had to look over at Minho for a second to see his wicked grin and know that this workout was going to be anything but easy.</p><p>Sure enough, an hour later, Jisung was a panting, sweaty mess, laying spread eagle on the floor. Minho stood over him, hands on his waist, sneering down at him. Minho nudged him with his foot and Jisung swatted at him in retaliation.</p><p>“Get up, you big baby,” Minho said unsympathetically.</p><p>Jisung whined in response. This was definitely the hardest workout he’d ever done in his life. Minho had been unforgiving. While the rest of their teammates had gone around showing the other freshmen each of the workout machines, Minho had actually made Jisung use them. In the course of an hour, Jisung had endured leg day, arm day, abs day, and all the other days.</p><p>Chris chose that moment to walk over and stand next to Minho. He crossed his arms and looked down at Jisung curiously, asking, “You okay, there?” Jisung just groaned. Chris grinned and clapped Minho on the back. “Be careful, Minho. We still need him alive for the season.”</p><p>Minho rolled his eyes. “He’ll survive,” he responded snidely. Jisung begged to differ. He wouldn’t have minded laying on the ground, staring at the ceiling forever. But then his field of vision was filled by a hand a ten inches from his face.</p><p>Jisung blinked. Then he grabbed the hand and let Minho pull him to his feet. One they were both standing, Minho gave him an appraising look.</p><p>“You did well,” Minho said grudgingly. It obviously pained him to say so. Jisung grinned.</p><p>“Thanks,” he responded. His feigned nonchalance fooled no one; he was proud to have earned some of Minho’s respect, even if it pained the older player to admit it. </p><p>What Jisung didn’t know was that Minho was more than just a little impressed; Jisung had stepped up to every challenge Minho had thrown his way. The competitiveness hadn’t surprised Minho; on the contrary, Minho had expected that. What had been surprising was how fit Jisung actually was despite his small stature. Not that Minho would ever tell him that.</p><p>The team wrapped up their workout shortly after that, splitting up and meandering back to their dorms to get showered and start the day. It was Monday, and classes weren’t due to start until Wednesday, a fact Jisung was fully planning on taking advantage of.</p><p>He walked quickly back to the freshmen dorm with Felix, Seungmin, and Hyunjin, talking excitedly about their plans for the day. Jisung was so excited to goof off around the college town and go exploring that he’d already forgotten how he’d cursed the world that morning while lifting weights.</p><p>In twenty short minutes, Jisung and the others had showered and thrown on whatever clothes were easiest to access since they had yet to fully finish unpacking their belongings. For Jisung, Seungmin, and Felix, this meant some sweats and t-shirts. For Hyunjin, this meant jeans and a sweater. If Jisung hadn’t still been worn out from that morning, he might’ve had the energy to be jealous of Hyunjin’s fit.</p><p>Once they were all presentable (some more than others), the four of them walked together to the closest dining hall. As they entered the large space, Jisung was beyond grateful that they’d decided to eat together; there weren’t that many students there, as the semester hadn’t started yet, but that didn’t mean Jisung wanted to face the other college athletes alone. </p><p>So Jisung was a little more jumpy than he would’ve liked. How was it his fault that all of the football players were so much larger than him? He took some deep breaths and tried to focus his attention on the different buffet options, side-eying the dozens of strangers lounging about.</p><p>Still, when his phone buzzed aggressively in his pocket, Jisung’s nerves betrayed him, and he flinched. Felix glanced back at him in concern from where he stood ahead in the buffet line. Jisung avoided his gaze and pulled his phone out of his pocket, checking the notifications.</p><p>It was a message from Minho. Jisung’s eyebrows furrowed. It was the first message Minho had ever sent him directly; they only had each other’s numbers due to the team group chat.</p><p>The message read, simply, <em>‘look up.’</em></p><p>Jisung’s head snapped up, towards the tables in the dining hall. His eyes scanned the tables, quickly finding what he was looking for. There, sitting around a table towards the back of the dining area, were Minho, Chris, Ethan, Malik, and Changbin. Changbin raised his arm, waving at Jisung with a large grin on his face. </p><p>Jisung sent Minho a confused look. Jisung wasn’t positive, but he thought Minho might’ve rolled his eyes in response. Then Minho pulled out his phone and typed something else, resulting in the phone in Jisung’s hand buzzing again.</p><p>‘<em>come eat with us’</em></p><p>Instead of bothering to respond, Jisung simply turned to Felix and said, “Minho wants us to eat with them.” Before Felix could ask what he meant, Jisung just pointed wordlessly at the older players’ table.</p><p>Felix passed the message on to Hyunjin and Seungmin, standing ahead of them in line, and then the four of them meandered their way through the sea of tables towards their teammates. Chris, Changbin, Malik, and Ethan welcomed them warmly. Minho simply nodded at Jisung, but Jisung still considered that a win.</p><p>It was comfortable. Jisung was surprised by how much he enjoyed talking to his new teammates. Sure, he knew he was required to get along with them. Performing at a collegiate level required at least a base level of trust. </p><p>However, in only two short days, Chris and the others had already managed to draw Jisung out of his shell more than anyone at his high school had ever managed. Jisung suspected that it had to do with the way they treated him and the freshmen as equals. Even when they were being ‘hazed,’ it had felt more like hanging out with friends. </p><p>Even Minho, who was still more likely to treat him as a rival than a teammate, never looked down on him. And Jisung wouldn’t have it any other way.</p><p>As they ate, the nine of them talked mostly about volleyball. After all, it was the one thing that they all had in common. However, their conversation quickly devolved from a mature discussion of strategies and skills to an around-the-table sharing of everyone’s favorite part about volleyball.</p><p>Jisung was very much enjoying listening to his teammates describe their favorite thing about volleyball, everything from sound of a solid spike to the stinging on your forearms after making an amazing save to the sounds of the crowd cheering after an amazing play.</p><p>Then it was Minho’s turn, and the middle blocker had the audacity to say, “I like to watch the light leave an attacker’s eyes when I stuff the ball right back down their throat.” Then he made direct eye contact with Jisung.</p><p>Jisung’s mouth dropped open at the bold statement. After a short silence, Changbin barked out a short laugh. “Minho, dude, this is why nobody likes you.” His tone was obviously joking.</p><p>Jisung snorted, glaring daggers at the remains of his food. Just as he thought he was starting to understand Minho and where they stood in their rivalry, the older player would say something like that and make him question everything.</p><p>Changbin seemed to pick up on Jisung’s discomfort, glancing back and forth between Jisung and Minho quickly. Then he pointed at them, first at Jisung, then Minho. “Wait, do you guys, like, actually dislike each other? I thought you were just some high school rivals.”</p><p>If the question caught Minho off guard half as much as it caught Jisung off guard, then he was also struggling to respond.</p><p>Minho was the first one to regain his composure. “No, you were right. That’s all there is to it. In fact, I don’t know if I would even call it a real rivalry.”</p><p>Jisung’s eyes stung.</p><p>
  <em>Sometime towards the end of Jisung’s freshman year, Jisung’s team held a practice match against Lee Minho’s team. At this point, they had already played each other twice; Minho’s team winning the first match, and Jisung’s team the second.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>It was enough to solidify their rivalry in Jisung’s mind. When he pushed himself harder in practice, getting just one more rep in, which turned into five, he imagined Minho’s face on the other side of the net.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>But he didn’t know if Minho did the same.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Then that practice match happened, with each of their teams going back and forth taking the sets, and Minho was on Jisung’s ass the entire time. When Jisung scored, Minho obviously took it personally, and when Minho successfully blocked him, the middle blocker celebrated more than against any other player.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>When their coaches finally called it quits after several hours, the teams approached the net to shake hands. When Jisung reached Minho, the older player gripped his hand, stalling Jisung in line. Jisung looked up at him and felt vindicated seeing the fire in Minho’s eyes.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Until next time, Han.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Jisung gripped his hand right back, squeezing tighter than necessary, and resisting the urge to flinch when Minho did the same.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Until next time.”</em>
</p><p>Jisung snorted for the second time in the last two minutes.</p><p>“Please,” he said, stabbing his fork into the chicken on his plate with more force than necessary, “Don’t act like you didn’t spend your last two season trying to block my spikes.”</p><p>Minho’s eyes narrowed. “Trying and succeeding, you mean.”</p><p>And then they were bickering. When Jisung would recall the conversation, he would definitely feel embarrassed at the childish words they had exchanged. But in the moment, it felt good to say what he was thinking, especially since Minho gave as good as he got.</p><p>This bickering lasted all of thirty second seconds before Chris said, “Okay, okay, enough.” Minho and Jisung promptly shut up. Chris didn’t sound mad, but he had broken out his ‘captain’ voice, which demanded respect.</p><p>But since shutting up didn’t mean they were done bugging each other; when Jisung made a face at Minho, the older player didn’t hesitate at all to return the favor. Chris rolled his eyes so hard that Jisung even saw the action out of the corner of his eye.</p><p>“C’mon guys, I’m serious. What is your deal?” Chris asked. He looked pointedly at Minho. Minho just shrugged, so Chris turned to look at Jisung. Jisung shot Minho a betrayed look, which Minho ignored.</p><p>Trying to ignore all of the eyes on him, Jisung said, “He insulted me when we first met, and the rest is history.” Changbin barked out a laugh. Chris rolled his eyes again.</p><p>But Minho just looked confused. “What are you talking about?” he asked indignantly. “You were the one who was a rude little shit.” Jisung’s expression then mirrored Minho’s, and the two of them just looked at each other for a few seconds. </p><p>“I literally just introduced myself and asked if you were new and you totally went off on me,” continued Minho, crossing his arms and leaning back in his chair.</p><p>“You,” said Jisung slowly, “were pissed at me for making the team as a freshman.” Except, even as he said the words, he could hear how ridiculous they sounded. </p><p>Minho obviously agreed, because he scoffed. “Jisung, you’re ridiculous. Why would I ever give a shit about when you made it onto your team? I was just-” he cut himself off, but his point had been made. Jisung could feel his face flushing, from embarrassment, from indignation, from anger directed mostly at himself.</p><p>When he really thought about it, Jisung knew what Minho had said was true. Jisung knew Minho hadn’t really been trying to start a fight with him. </p><p>And yet, when Jisung initiated the rivalry, Minho had gone along with it. So, over the years, Jisung had convinced himself that Minho disliked him from the beginning. Of course, now Jisung was realizing how untrue that was; but the end result was still the same.</p><p>So, in true Jisung fashion, he said, “Well, maybe I started it, but you didn’t finish it!”</p><p>“Jisung, you were a little shit!” said Minho.</p><p>“You were an even bigger shit!” insisted Jisung.</p><p>At that point, Minho just sighed and buried his face in his hands. When his shoulders started to shake, Jisung had about half a second to wonder if he was crying before the sound of Minho giggling reached his ears. </p><p>Jisung felt his lips twitch into an almost-smile. “Did you know that you were the reason I worked so hard to improve? I wanted to beat you so bad.” Jisung kept his eyes focused on Minho. He could feel the gazes of their teammates on him. At this point, his face was already so red that he figured he’d better just try to get all of his embarrassing statements out of the way in one go.</p><p>Minho looked up and raised an eyebrow. “So you’re saying I get to take credit for you being here on this team?” Before Jisung could respond, Minho sighed deeply and said, “I really screwed myself over then.”</p><p>Jisung sputtered while his teammates burst out into laughter. Their group caused such a raucous that everyone within twenty feet looked over to see what was happening. In seconds, Jisung was in a situation that would’ve mortified him in high school. Yet, he could somehow tell that the laughter was not at his expense.</p><p>He made eye contact with Minho, and the junior’s eyes crinkled into a conspiratorial smile. In response, Jisung said, “Minho, you bastard. I literally hate you.”</p><p>And yet, for the first time since they’d met all those years ago, Jisung could finally admit to himself that his statement couldn’t be any farther from the truth. So when Minho reached across the table to ruffle his hair in a joking matter, Jisung swatted his hand away with a smile instead of an insult.</p><p>Luckily, the rest of breakfast went much smoother. Now that Minho and Jisung had established that their old rivalry didn’t really have a place in their interactions anymore, the team was able to joke around a lot easier. In fact, the old rivals bickered and joked around more than anyone.</p><p>In the blink of an eye, the two had come to a silent consensus; now that  they weren’t fighting each other, they would gang up on everyone else. By the time everyone finished up their food and were leaving the dining hall, they’d already managed to make Changbin the butt of several jokes, to the sophomore’s chagrin.</p><p>So it was no surprise that Changbin was desperate to jump on any chance to get back at the two troublemakers. Their group split after breakfast; Chris and the others had waved goodbye before heading off in various directions across campus, leaving Jisung with the other freshmen. Minho and Changbin had also invited themselves into their little group when they heard the younger boy’s plans to explore the town.</p><p>So there they were, their group of six, walking through the outskirts of campus when Changbin asked, “Minho, is that your shirt?”</p><p>Minho looked down at his clothed chest before looking back up at Changbin in confusion. “Um, yeah.”</p><p>Changbin rolled his eyes. “Not that one, you dipshit.” Then he pointed at Jisung. “I meant <em>that</em> one.”</p><p>Everyone looked at the t-shirt Jisung was wearing, including Jisung himself. Sure enough, it was the shirt that had been given to him the night before at the gym, although he hadn’t realized it was Minho’s actual shirt.</p><p>“Oh, that one,” said Minho dismissively. “Not anymore.” Jisung looked at him in confusion. “Now it’s got cooties on it, so Jisung can keep it.”</p><p>Jisung’s mouth dropped open, insulted. “I’ll show you cooties,” he huffed. Minho’s eyes widened, and as if he could read Jisung’s mind, he took off running at the same exact time Jisung started chasing him.</p><p>Needless to say, they were the first to reach town that day.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Midnight Sky</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Stream midnight sky edge of midnight remix by miley cyrus for clear skin. also, I just wanted to say that some of y'all have left me the absolute best comments. every one of these chapters are for you &lt;3</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The start of the semester proceeded in a similar fashion. Now that Jisung and Minho were attempting to put their so-called rivalry behind them, they were shaping up to be a real dynamic duo. If the team had thought them being faux-enemies for one and a half-days had been a lot to handle, then they’d been in for a rude awakening.</p><p>Joining together had made them more powerful than ever.</p><p>Jisung had worried that their alliance might not last past Wednesday and the start of classes. But the rest of the enrolled students had arrived, classes had started, and their new almost-friendship had stayed strong so far.</p><p>In fact, Minho had proven helpful. Maybe it was that he’d taken his role as Jisung’s mentor to heart, but Minho spent far more time with the group of freshmen than most juniors would ever dare. Jisung had worried that Minho would be a distraction during study time, but when it came down to it, the junior was more focused than anyone he’d ever met. Minho had even helped Jisung study for his first quiz in Statistics 101, a class Minho took his own freshman year.</p><p>In two weeks, Jisung had eaten more meals <em>with</em> Minho than without him, as they often ate breakfast together after the team’s morning practices and had the same breaks around lunchtime. In fact, Minho was almost around as much as Felix, Seungmin, and Hyunjin, which was definitely saying something since Jisung actually lived with the other freshmen.</p><p>That’s not to say their new relationship was now suddenly perfect. No, they still spent a significant amount of their time bickering and annoying everyone around them. The difference was there were no hard feelings behind their words anymore. It’s as if their breakfast confessions on that first Monday had thawed whatever ice was between them into more of a lukewarm puddle.</p><p>It became common practice for Felix, who had memorized Jisung’s schedule, to tell Minho where Jisung was whenever they ran into each other on campus before he even said hello.</p><p>And yet, despite their newfound camaraderie off the court, their coordination on the court left much to be desired. When the team had gathered for their first real practice Monday night, Jisung’s hopes had been high. Even when he and Minho had missed their first few passes and rotations, botching a couple receives here and there, Jisung hadn’t thought much of it.</p><p>But now they were two weeks into the semester, coming upon their first game as a team, and he and Minho still couldn’t seem to sync up. </p><p>“Minho! Jisung! If the two of you get caught in a campfire like that during our game tomorrow, it’ll mean sprints for the whole team!” barked out their coach from the sidelines.</p><p>Jisung pursed his lips, frustrated. He pushed his sweaty bangs back from his forehead and looked over at Minho, looking similarly annoyed with their performance. The two of them had just been caught flat-footed, missing an easy receive due to a lack of communication like a bunch of newby players. Again.</p><p>The two of them lowered themselves into an athletic stance, readying themselves for the next serve. Across the net, Seungmin prepared to serve for the third time in a row. It was supposed to be a simple receiving drill, but everytime Minho and Jisung came up in the rotation, they got stuck an extra three or four ticks longer than everyone else.</p><p>Seungmin gave himself a neat toss serve and sent the ball over the net towards Jisung. Jisung felt his legs respond instinctively, muscles tensing as he got into the correct position and prepared to bump the ball to Chris. At the last second, right as he was about to kill the ball’s speed and rotation, as he’d done thousands of times during his life, he caught sight of Minho moving out of the corner of his eye.</p><p>With that split second loss of focus, the ball twisted in a weird way off his arms, resulting in a too low pass to Chris, who was setting at the net.</p><p>Fuck.</p><p>Their coach angrily blew the whistle, signalling the end of the drill. “All right, I’m tired of watching the two of you. Everyone take a water break and then we’re moving onto offensive plays,” he said gruffly, stomping his way out of the gym.</p><p>Jisung placed his hands on his hips and stared at the ceiling in frustration, out of breath. Unfortunately, he knew from experience that when their coach came back, he’d put them through the ringer in the next drill.</p><p>Everyone walked off the court, grabbing their water bottles and trying to rest up as much as possible during the short break, leaving Minho and Jisung alone on the court. Jisung glanced over at his assigned mentor, taking in the stiff set of his shoulders.</p><p>Jisung had never really seen Minho beaten down. After the games when Jisung’s high school team beat him, Minho had only grinned and taken it as a challenge for the future. Even now, Minho was more determined than broken, focusing more on ways to improve than on past mistakes.</p><p>Still, it bugged Jisung, seeing the older player struggle with him and knowing it was connected to their dynamic. He wasn’t sure why, but it put a bad feeling in his stomach. It reminded him of-</p><p>
  <em>-sophomore year. Jisung’s team had been eliminated a couple weeks earlier, by none other than Minho’s team. With nothing but time on his hands, Jisung had been throwing himself into individual practices. None of his teammates had been interested in working out with him after the official end of the season, preferring instead to focus on other sports or friends or studies or literally anything else.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Only Jeongin, the only freshman on the team, had taken Jisung up on his offers to do some skills drills after school every day. The two of them had quickly bonded at the beginning of the season; Jisung knew how it felt to be a freshman on a team that didn’t give a shit about your feelings.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>So even after their season had come to an official end, the two had continued hanging out and playing volleyball together. Tonight was different, though. Tonight, Jisung had asked a girl at school with a car to drive him and Jeongin an hour and a half across the state to see the semi-final state volleyball championship game.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Jisung liked the girl well enough; they shared an elective class together, something that she cared about more than he did. He knew, however, that she liked him as more than an acquaintance, and although he didn’t feel the same, he also knew that she had a car. He’d felt a bit bad about taking advantage of her, asking if she’d go with him. When he’d seen her face fall at the mention of Jeongin joining them, he’d almost called the thing off. But he needed to be at that game.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>He needed to see Minho play. He needed to see Minho win. If Jisung’s own team couldn’t go on to win the championship game, then he needed Minho to do it, to prove that they’d lost to the best. That their effort hadn’t been for nothing.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>It was a good game. Minho played amazingly, even better than normal. His blocks were ridiculous, and his command of the court was already on a collegiate level. Jisung was so enraptured with the gameplay that his focus narrowed in on only the court, everything else fading out. He’d learn later from Jeongin that the girl who’d driven them actually had a pretty good head for the game. At least, Jeongin had said she’d seemed to understand his explanations of what was happening fairly easily.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>But none of that mattered to Jisung as he watched the ball slam into the court again and again despite Minho’s best efforts to keep it up. Despite the fact that Minho was playing what was potentially the best game of his high school career, his team as a whole was simply no match for the other team. Their opponents just kept coming and coming, an overwhelming force that refused to be slowed.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>When the opponents finally scored their winning point, Jisung felt empty. He’d known ten minutes earlier how the game would end and had reluctantly been forced to watch the slow, painful end. For some reason, watching Minho fight until the very end caused a foreign ache in his chest that was entirely unpleasant. Jisung wished he’d never seen how the determination left Minho’s eyes, slowly replaced by desperation as the inevitable approached.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>It was a sight Jisung never, ever wanted to see again.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Jisung had even worked himself up to go see if Minho was okay after the game, but then the middle blocker had seen him sitting with Jeongin and the girl whose name he couldn’t even remember now, made a face, and stormed out of the gym.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>That had been the last time Jisung had seen the other player before he graduated.</em>
</p><p>“So what’s up with you guys?” called a voice behind Jisung. Jisung blinked. Both him and Minho turned their heads simultaneously. Chris strolled up to them, one eyebrow raised.</p><p>Jisung and Minho shared a look, unspoken words flashing between them.</p><p>“Ah, see!” said Chris, pointing at them, causing the pair to jump. “You guys have this crazy connection that the rest of us can’t even begin to understand. You’ve completely turned your relationship around, so why can’t you do the same thing on the court?”</p><p>It was a fair question. Why couldn’t they? Sometimes Jisung thought maybe it was because he was hyper aware of Minho, but he couldn’t for the life of him figure out why that would be. So he just shrugged.</p><p>Minho opened his mouth, probably to make some smartass remark, but Chris cut him off. “Listen, I don’t care what you do, but the two of you have to figure something out. I’m not saying you have to play together like you’re childhood friends, but you <em>do</em> have to play together like you’re on the same team, because you are.”</p><p>Jisung fully expected Minho to roll his eyes, shaking off the words with his usual confidence. He was surprised when Minho just sighed and nodded. Chris nodded back, then clapped them both on the back before striding off to find his own water bottle.</p><p>“Jisung,” said Minho, watching Chris walk away. “He’s right. I’m tired of us getting our asses kicked.”</p><p>Jisung just hung his head, rubbing the back of his neck uncomfortably. </p><p>“Yeah, me too. But what are we gonna do?” Jisung’s voice was a mix of resigned and desperate. Jisung could physically see when the lightbulb went off in Minho’s head; his eyes narrowed and he smiled devilishly.</p><p>“Do you trust me?” Minho asked.</p><p>Jisung shook his head no, but he was grinning, too.</p><p>Several hours later Jisung and Minho giggled and shushed each other as they broke into the stadium. Unlike Jisung’s first night on campus, when their team had gone to their own personal practice gym to play at midnight, they were now attempting to enter unnoticed into the main arena.</p><p>This was where their team would play their first game tomorrow, in front of whichever students actually decided to attend. At max capacity, the arena could house a decent ten thousand or so spectators. Now, however, it was empty, save for them.</p><p>Breaking in had been easier than Jisung had thought it would be when Minho described his plan. They’d just walked up to one of the back doors, where the faculty came in and out, and found a door that was propped open, probably by a member of the cleaning staff.</p><p>It was beyond simple to make their way through the darkened hallways and into the main arena. Even with only the emergency lights on, the place was well lit enough to take Jisung’s breath away.</p><p>In less than a day, he would stand here again with his team and take on the world. For now, though, it was just him and Minho. Jisung grinned as he followed Minho down the stadium steps, trying to tread as lightly as possible. In no time, the two of them reached the bottom.</p><p>“Wow,” said Minho in a quiet voice, “that was easier than I thought it would be.”</p><p>Jisung looked at him incredulously. “Wait, I thought when you said we should come practice here, it was because you’d done it before.”</p><p>Minho shook his head. Jisung promptly took one of the volleyballs in his arms and chucked it right at Minho’s face, who dodged it easily. Minho laughed, dodging the second ball Jisung threw, too. Their impromptu dodgeball fight quickly transformed into a simple passing drill.</p><p>Bump. Set. Spike. Bump. Set. Spike. Back and forth, over and over while they warmed up. The entire time, talking about recent random day-to-day occurrences that had happened. Chris was right; they got along so well off of the court. In two short weeks, Jisung felt comfortable enough around the older to even tell him about his anxiety in some of his classes that came when he met too many new people at once.</p><p>So why hadn’t that comfort level transfered over to the court?</p><p>It was easy enough, passing the ball back and forth as they were right now. But when it came down to actually moving as a unit, they always seemed to find a way to fuck it up. Honestly, at this point Jisung was content to blame it on some mental block. Like maybe his brain had gotten over their rivalry, but his body hadn’t yet gotten used to being on the same side of the net yet.</p><p>So here they were for some godforsaken reason, playing volleyball in the middle of the court, alone past midnight. If Jisung wasn’t careful, playing midnight volleyball might just become a habit.</p><p>Once they were sufficiently warmed up, Jisung asked, “So did you have an actual plan for us beyond sneaking in here?”</p><p>Minho rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. “Okay, so maybe I just wanted to see what it was like, and no one would agree to come with me.” When Jisung opened his mouth to argue, he said, “But we could do some trust exercises or something! I don’t know, like a trust fall or some shit like that?”</p><p>Jisung rolled his eyes so hard they hurt. Still, he didn’t have a better idea, so he opened his arms and gestured for Minho to turn around. The middle blocker grinned as he did so. Then, like a couple of elementary school kids at summer camp, Minho fell back into his arms in a trust fall.</p><p>To no one’s surprise, Jisung caught him easily, laughing the entire time. However, just as he was about to stand him back up, they heard the banging of a door above their heads and someone shouting, “Hey! What are you kids doing in here?” In unison, their heads snapped up to find the source of the sound, Minho still cradled in Jisung’s arms.</p><p>Above them, entering from one of the faculty doors onto an upper level of arena seating, a security guard was waving his flashlight down at them. The guard’s stomach was large, but so were his shoulders. In other words, Minho and Jisung had no interest being caught by this large lump of a man.</p><p>In a second, they’d separated and taken off in the opposite direction. Jisung barely had the wherewithal to scoop up the volleyballs as he ran by them, calling out Minho’s name to get his attention. Without either of them breaking stride, Jisung shot two of the balls at Minho, who caught them and deftly shoved them under his arms.</p><p>They took the stairs from the court three by three, bolting as fast as their young, college athlete legs would allow. Before the security guard could fully react, they’d made it up two flights of stairs and out a door that led to a hallway with darkened concession stands.</p><p>Right as Jisung was starting to think that they’d made it home free, he glanced back just in time to see the security guard mumbling into a walkie-talkie, no doubt calling reinforcements.</p><p>“Minho!” Jisung hissed, the two of them still sprinting through the large hallway, “He’s calling more guards!”</p><p>Minho, the crazy son of a bitch, just laughed as if this was the most fun he’d had in years. He never even slowed down. “I did some research! There should only be two of them! If we can just- Shit!” His sentence abruptly cut off as he skidded to a halt. In front of them, shining off the darkened halls, was the swinging light of the second security guard’s flashlight.</p><p>Minho’s head whipped around wildly, trying to decide what to do. Jisung, having his one brilliant idea for the week, pushed him towards a small, nondescript door to their left. Then, just before the security guard could round the corner, Jisung pushed one of the large doors leading back into the arena stands as hard as he could and slipped through the small door after Minho.</p><p>Just as he’d hoped, they were able to hear the guard go through the swinging doors, talking on his walkie-talkie, while they themselves were safely hidden in what appeared to be a janitor’s closet. Maybe the same janitor who had left the back door open had left this door unlocked, but whoever they were, Jisung loved them.</p><p>After giving the guard a few seconds to move farther away, Jisung realized the position they were in. Minho and Jisung were both pressed up against the door in their efforts to hear what was on the other side, leaving their faces inches from each other.</p><p>Upon this realization, Jisung struggled to hold in his sudden urge to laugh. Based upon the expression he was making, Minho was doing the same. Jisung pulled back first, cautiously opening the door and peaking into the hallway. Once he’d made certain they were alone, at least for now, he jerked his head at Minho, and the two took off running again.</p><p>“Gogogo!” whispered Minho.</p><p>It took them less than thirty seconds to reach a door that led outside, and the two of them burst through it with the grace of a couple of elephants. As the night air hit their faces, the two of them let out the laughter they’d been holding, even as they sprinted to freedom. Their triumphant whooping definitely woke up at least a couple students in nearby dorms, but they were too high on their victory to care.</p><p>They ran all the way back to Jisung’s dorm without stopping. The sound of their feet pounding the ground and the last remnants of laughter followed them the entire way. Once they stopped running, they almost fell over from laughing so hard. </p><p>Jisung wiped at his eyes, a few stray laughter tears threatening to spill. The adrenaline was finally starting to leave his veins. He took a deep breath, shaking his head in amusement.</p><p>“That,” he began, “was absolutely the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever done in my life. I cannot believe you talked me into it.” Jisung’s words were almost admiring. Minho just laughed again.</p><p>“I can’t believe we actually got away. I thought for sure the second one had us!” Now it was Minho’s turn to sound admiring. “Your plan was genius. He had no idea where we were.”</p><p>Jisung resisted the urge to puff up his chest like a proud cartoon character. “What can I say? I’m just a genius, I guess.” Then he was laughing again, too. Soon enough, they were cracking each other up doing imitations of the large lump of a man they’d seen from the arena, and what they imagined the second guard had looked like falling for Jisung’s silly trick.</p><p>It took them five whole minutes to calm down enough to speak normally without giggling halfway through a sentence. Once he could speak normally again, Jisung said, “Goodnight Minho,” attempting to shoot him a small wave while still holding a volleyball under each arm.</p><p>Minho returned the favor, saying, “Goodnight Jisung. See you tomorrow morning,” before turning and walking away towards his own dorm. Jisung watched him go for a few seconds, taking in the pep in his step. As the freshman finally turned around to enter his dorm, beyond excited to fall into his bed, it occurred to him that he’d never seen Minho laugh so hard before.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Surprise Shawty!</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>lmao sorry for the wait. for the, like, two people out there waiting for this update, sorry! im a lazy sack of bones who gets distracted by tiktok too easily! um also this one is v short (it's like 2k words), so ill try to crank out the next one and put that up by today, too :)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>After their little escapade in the arena, Minho and Jisung finally clicked on the court. To their coach’s surprise, not only were there no silly mistakes during their first game of the season, but they were far and wide two of the best players.</p>
<p>It was as if they knew exactly what the other was going to do before they even did it. Even Chris pulled them aside at one point during that first game to congratulate them on whatever it was that they did to get over their mental block. If he was confused when they started laughing uncontrollably, he didn’t show it.</p>
<p>As if their teamwork on the court was the last puzzle piece they’d needed, the rest of the semester began running as smoothly as Jisung could have hoped. Jisung grew closer to the rest of his teammates; he enjoyed hanging out with the upperclassmen, and his friendships with the other freshmen were shaping up to be life-long relationships. His classes weren’t drowning him yet, and Minho was even able to help him with a lot of the mathematical concepts he didn’t understand in Statistics 101. </p>
<p>And their team was performing extremely well. Despite being freshmen, Jisung and the others were allowed a decent amount of playing time, which they utilized fully. Seungmin was really shaping up to be an amazingly clever setter under Chris’ tutelage, and Felix and Ethan got along like two peas in a pod. They dug spikes like they were born to be liberos. Even Hyunjin was really starting to shine, even though his mentor, Changbin, wasn’t a middle blocker like he was.</p>
<p>Sometimes Jisung thought if he squinted at Hyunjin and Changbin just right, there might be something going on between the two of them, but his short attention span stopped him from doing any real digging.</p>
<p>The weeks passed faster than Jisung would’ve thought possible. It was as if his life before college had been moving in slow-motion; now he was experiencing events at the correct speed for the first time.</p>
<p>Maybe it had to do with being around his new teammates for such large periods of time. He’d quickly gotten closer with them than he had with any of his high school teammates, with the exception of maybe Jeongin.</p>
<p>Long story short, Jisung was really feeling good about the way his life was shaping up. He wished he could go back in time to past Jisung and tell him not to worry so much about making friends and adapting to college studies. He was doing just fine.</p>
<p>Even waking up at ass o’clock every morning to complete his team workouts couldn’t put a damper on Jisung’s mood. After all, who wouldn’t want to put on some muscle? For the first time since he was a little kid, Jisung was considering buying some sleeveless t-shirts to show off the biceps he’d finally started sculpting.</p>
<p>It definitely helped that his teammates had to suffer through the same workout he did. Then they’d commiserate over breakfast in the dining hall, doing general goofy college boy things. </p>
<p>This was where Jisung found himself, two months into the semester faster than he would’ve thought possible. Mid-October rolled around, and Jisung was flying high. The cool air was pleasant, and the falling leaves turned their quaint little campus into something out of a picturesque movie.</p>
<p>At this point, Jisung and Minho were almost inseparable. Like the other mentor-mentees, the two of them ate and studied together more often than not. Unlike the other mentor-mentees, they even spent much of their free time just hanging out. If any of the students on campus had been told that Jisung and Minho’s relationship was originally centered around a rivalry, the students no doubt would have laughed in disbelief.</p>
<p>So it was just another random Tuesday. Jisung paid little mind to where he was going, his body’s muscle memory leading him across the lawn towards his next class. At this point, he and Minho knew each other’s class schedules better than anyone else; it’s kind of what happens when you hang out with each other everyday.</p>
<p>Jisung knew this path, knew that Minho’s class was in the building next door. Very little thought went into the action of actually <em>getting there.</em> Instead, he gave his attention to Minho, who was walking beside him. Looking back on it, he couldn’t even remember what they’d been discussing (probably bickering about something stupid), when some girl blocked their path. </p>
<p>She wasn’t big by any means; in fact, she was rather small. Shorter than both Minho and Jisung, at least. She was pretty, in a simple way, the kind of pretty where nothing in her features stood out, either good or bad. Overall, Jisung can’t say that he would have ever even given her a second glance, had it not been for the fact that she planted herself in the middle of the pathway.</p>
<p>Jisung, who had been looking at Minho for a reaction to whatever witty thing he’d said, saw the older boy pull up short. It was only when Jisung looked forward to see why they were stopping that he saw the girl.</p>
<p>Jisung’s attention shifted away from Minho. Perhaps this was why he didn’t see the uncomfortable expression flicker across the middle blocker’s face.</p>
<p>“Hello?” Jisung asked, glancing behind them to see if she was trying to get someone else’s attention.</p>
<p>“Hi,” she said brightly, dashing those hopes. “My name is Alice.” Then she reached out her hand. Jisung stared for a second too long, caught completely off guard, before reaching forward with a slow hand.</p>
<p>When his fingers touched hers, she shook his hand vigorously. Jisung was only too happy when Alice loosened her grip, snatching his hand back immediately and saying, “Um, okay? I’m Jisung, I guess. And this is Minho.” He jerked a thumb in Minho’s direction. Minho said nothing, so Jisung continued, “Do you, like, need something? Or- can we help you?”</p>
<p>Jisung’s parents would be appalled at his lack of politeness, but Jisung couldn’t have cared less. This girl, <em>Alice</em>, was giving him weird fucking vibes and he could not wait to be a million miles away from her. There was something about the way her eyes bore into his soul that made him certain she absolutely despised him. Then again, that could just be his dislike of strangers talking.</p>
<p>At his question though, Alice perked up, saying, “Yes, actually.” Then her eyes switched from Jisung to Minho, and it was like Jisung ceased to exist. He was simultaneously relieved to be released from under her scrutiny and insulted at being ignored so easily. “Hello Minho.”</p>
<p>Minho, who had been standing stock still this entire time and had yet to say a word, simply raised a hand in the weakest acknowledgement Jisung had ever seen. So Minho got the weird vibes, too.</p>
<p>Alice continued as if she didn’t notice, voice growing steadily stronger as no one stopped her. “I know you don’t know me yet, but I’m a freshman this year. I’ve been a huge fan of you for a couple years now. I’ve watched all of your games after I saw you play your freshman year.” Her voice never waivered, even when Minho grew visibly uncomfortable under her gaze. “I’ve been trying to find a time to introduce myself since the first day of classes, but somehow you’re never alone.” </p>
<p>At the word ‘never,’ Alice’s voice became ice cold and her eyes flickered to Jisung for half a second. Then she was all smiles as she looked at Minho. Jisung wondered if his mind was playing tricks on him.</p>
<p>“I just decided to go for it,” she continued, bulldozing ahead, paying no mind to Jisung’s confused look and Minho’s apathetic one. Jisung shouldn’t have been as surprised by her next words as he was; she asked, “Could I have your number?”</p>
<p>The world stood still for a moment. No one moved. Jisung’s mouth opened against his will. Minho remained stock still. Alice’s eerie smile never wavered.</p>
<p>Then Jisung let out a short laugh, just one, before he slapped his hands to his mouth as if that would erase the noise.</p>
<p>Alice’s eyes were back on him in a second, blazing through him and leaving him feeling cold. How was it possible that such an ordinary girl made him more nervous than a seven foot volleyball opponent? Maybe it had to do with the fact that there was no net separating them. Yeah. Totally.</p>
<p>Luckily for Jisung, his laugh seemed to rouse Minho from whatever stupor he’d been in. His apathetic expression was replaced with a face that Jisung recognized from their years of high school rivalry; Minho was pretending to feel sorry for her.</p>
<p>“Sorry, Alice, but I don’t give my number out to strangers,” Minho said, matter-of-factly. Then, “And I don’t really have an interest in getting to know you. I’m pretty busy.”</p>
<p>Jisung stifled the urge to laugh again, but it was a close thing. Honestly though? Alice and her Bad Vibes could get rekt.</p>
<p>Jisung thought that would be that, but Alice didn’t seem to get the hint, despite it being less of a hint and more of a punch to the face statement.</p>
<p>“Oh, no worries! You don’t have to decide anything now! Just think about it! Maybe we could go on a date sometime and you can decide then,” she said. Before she even finished her last sentence, Minho was shaking his head.</p>
<p>“No, you don’t understand,” Minho said, a pitying tone entering his voice. Jisung had always hated when Minho talked to him with that voice. “It’s not just that I’m not interested in getting to know <em>you</em>. It’s just that I’d rather have a boyfriend. You understand, don’t you?” Minho shrugged as if to say <em>‘it is what it is’.</em></p>
<p>Alice grew very still. Jisung’s eyes widened, but he did nothing except look at Minho appraisingly.</p>
<p>“Is that,” Alice said, her voice devoid of emotion, “why you two are always together?”</p>
<p>It took her pointing between Minho and Jisung for Jisung to realize what she meant. Once again, he was unable to hold back his laughter. Luckily, this time, he wasn’t alone. All it took was one look between them and Minho burst out laughing, too. </p>
<p>After a few seconds, Jisung wiped a tear from his eye and said, laughter still thick in his voice, “I literally didn’t even know Minho was gay until you did, so that’s definitely a ‘no.’ Also, he’s an asshole.” Jisung’s matter-of-fact voice mirrored Minho’s own from his declaration earlier.</p>
<p>Minho made an offended noise. “Who are you calling an asshole? Asshole.”</p>
<p>Then they were bickering and trying to see who could come up with the most creative insults. It took them far too long to realize that Alice had, at some point when they weren’t paying attention, slipped away without saying anything.</p>
<p><em>‘Good riddance,’</em> Jisung thought. He was more than happy to be rid of the strange girl. They started walking again. Jisung checked his phone and realized they would have to hurry so as not to be late to class. He said as much to Minho, and the two of them walked quickly, trying to cover ground and make up for the time that Alice had set them back. </p>
<p>Jisung had almost forgotten about the encounter entirely by the time they got to the academic buildings, until Minho tugged on his sleeve and pulled him to a stop in front of the front steps to his building.</p>
<p>“Hey, Jisung,” said Minho, voice deceptively nonchalant, “does me being gay bother you?”</p>
<p>Jisung doesn’t even have to think about his answer. </p>
<p>“Nah. Of course not.”</p>
<p>Minho grinned, a weight Jisung hadn’t even realized Minho had been carrying lifted off his shoulders. Jisung opened his mouth to add something along the lines of <em>‘and it’s not exactly like I’m straight, either,’</em> but Minho chose that moment to glance at his phone and say, “Oh shit! I've got to run!” With a wave over his shoulder, Minho took off in a sprint towards the building next door, leaving Jisung standing alone.</p>
<p>So Jisung turned and walked into his own building, thinking that would be the last of that conversation.</p>
<p>Boy was he wrong.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Halloween Shenanigans</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>hello beautiful people of the internet! here it is!!! the chapter that made me want to write this fic in the first place!!! the scene that i've had banging around in my brain since the very beginning when this story was nothing but a bunch of bullet points in a google doc!!!!!!! also, after nearly a month of absolutely nothing, here I am with not one, but TWO chapters in one day!!! sure, they've been written for ages and i only had to edit them (which doesn't take that long because im notoriously lazy lol) but i still consider it a win :P</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>A few days later, Jisung found himself staring at his Statistics textbook from the depths of the library. The fact that he’d even bothered to go to the library at all was a testament to how much he was struggling.</p>
<p>Minho had been no help; when Jisung had asked if Minho would be willing to help him with his assignment, since he’d been so helpful in the past, Minho had laughed in his face and told him to figure it out himself for once.</p>
<p>Jisung could only roll his eyes; old rivalries died hard. </p>
<p>So there he was, minding his own business in a secluded corner of the library, when he felt eyes upon him. Looking for any excuse to stop doing math, Jisung’s head snapped up hopefully. Maybe Seungmin had stumbled across him while studying and could provide a welcome distraction. He pouted when he had scanned the shelves around him and saw no one.</p>
<p>Still, as soon as he lowered his head back towards the paper in defeat, intending to read the practice questions for the third time, he felt the hairs on his neck prickle again.</p>
<p>“Hello?” Jisung called out in a quiet voice, eyes searching again for the source of the gaze. “Minho?” It would be just like Minho to try and sneak up on him. Jisung wouldn’t be surprised at all if the junior had changed his mind about helping him with statistics but decided to try and scare him first.</p>
<p>However, no Minho came jumping out from behind a shelf, so Jisung tried to ignore the feeling and get back to work. He had barely placed his pencil upon the paper when he heard, “Jisung!”</p>
<p>Jisung’s attention was instantly on none other than Felix, who jogged towards him down the center aisle of the library, a huge grin on his face. He was being entirely too loud for the third floor of the library, but Jisung just rolled his eyes. He chalked his earlier feeling up to Felix looking for him, and promptly forgot about it. </p>
<p>Behind Felix’s waving arm, Jisung could just make out Minho. The junior was following behind the libero at a normal walking pace, hands shoved in his pockets, but a similar grin adorning his face.</p>
<p>Jisung narrowed his eyes at his two approaching friends. Those grins meant trouble.</p>
<p>However, Jisung was more than happy for the distraction, so he grinned right back and pulled out the chair next to him. Felix, ignoring the sounds of people attempting to hush him as he passed by, flopped into the chair in a heap.</p>
<p>“Jisung!” Felix said, turning his torso towards Jisung, “We’ve been looking everywhere for you!”</p>
<p>“Why?” Jisung asked, tilting his head curiously. “Do you need something?”</p>
<p>Felix scoffed. “Do I need something? You think I ran all over campus looking for you because I wanted to see your beautiful face? Of course I need something!”</p>
<p>Jisung punched him lightly in the arm, and Felix rubbed at it, feigning hurt. Minho chose that moment to sidle up to the two of them, pulling out the chair across from Jisung and sitting down far more gracefully than Felix had.</p>
<p>“And do you need something, too?” Jisung asked sarcastically. “Or did you actually want to see my beautiful face?”</p>
<p>Minho opened his mouth, probably to say something insulting, but Felix beat him to it. “I ran into Minho when I was looking for you, and it turns out he was looking for you, too. Something about wanting to teach you math or some shit.”</p>
<p>Jisung looked over at Minho with raised eyebrows. Minho just responded with a shrug.</p>
<p>“But that’s not important,” continued Felix. “I’m here because you are going with me, Hyunjin, and Seungmin to a party being thrown at an off-campus house tonight.”</p>
<p>Now Jisung’s eyebrows really rose, and he turned to look at Felix.</p>
<p>“Tonight? You do realize that it’s Thursday, right?” he asked. However, he had already started packing up his school supplies, shoving them haphazardly into his backpack. Felix grinned at the action, almost jumping for joy in his seat.</p>
<p>“Yes! I knew you wouldn’t let me down! It’s going to be so fun! I heard about it from this football guy in my Psych class-” Felix said, rambling on. To be honest, Jisung stopped listening. He tuned Felix out and turned to give Minho an apologetic look for leaving before Minho could help him study. Minho shrugged again. His message was clear; <em>‘Do what you want, it’s not my fault if you fail your class.’</em></p>
<p>The three of them stood up and made their way out of the library. Once Felix stopped talking about the football player who had mentioned the party and how great the party was going to be supposedly, Jisung turned to look at Minho walking on his left.</p>
<p>“Are you going?” Jisung asked, hands gripping his backpack straps. Felix, who had been practically skipping on Jisung’s right side, turned expectantly.</p>
<p>“To the party? I hadn’t really intended on it. Once you’ve got enough older friends to buy alcohol for you, the free alcohol at parties loses its appeal. Also, I turn 21 in a few days, I don’t need frat guys to buy me drinks.”</p>
<p>Jisung perked up. “I totally forgot! It’s almost your birthday! You should totally go with us then to celebrate your last illegal drink!”</p>
<p>Minho shook his head vigorously, then less so. Jisung knew that he and Felix were wearing matching pouts, and he watched as Minho physically wilted under their power. For someone who had been so adamant about not liking Jisung in the beginning, he sure gave in easily to him now.</p>
<p>Felix opened his mouth, probably to start whining, but Minho cut him off before he could even begin. </p>
<p>“Fine. I’ll go. But only to make sure that you two,” he gave them a pointed look, “don’t do something majorly stupid just because I’m there. After all, we can’t have you getting kicked off the team.”</p>
<p>Jisung slung an arm around Minho’s shoulder in celebration. “Yes!”</p>
<p>Minho made a half-hearted attempt to shake Jisung off, the kind of effort that was just for show. When Jisung stubbornly held on, Minho let him stay. Their team had its fair share of tactile players (Felix, for example, disliked going more than ten minutes without cuddling someone), and Jisung was no exception.</p>
<p>Minho was one of the more reserved players, preferring to save his personal space for himself. Yet, for some reason, he was fine with Jisung sharing his space, a fact that a jealous Felix never failed to point out. </p>
<p>It had never stood out to Jisung before last Tuesday. Then that weird girl had to go and make Minho feel as though he had to come out in order to make her go away. Jisung was still pretty salty about that. </p>
<p>In the grand scheme of things, it should not have mattered. It didn’t matter. Jisung didn’t give a shit who Minho was attracted to; it kind of came with the gig, since he wasn’t exactly straight himself. So knowing that Minho was gay shouldn’t have affected him this way.</p>
<p>It shouldn’t have, but it did.</p>
<p>It forced open a door in Jisungs brain that he’d thought he’d nailed shut. A door that had been closed ever since their first interaction his freshman year of high school. Now, something as simple as knowing Minho was gay was enough to shove a crowbar through his carefully constructed walls.</p>
<p>Jisung hated this. He hated that he was now questioning everything. He squeezed Minho’s shoulder and made a show of taking large, obnoxious steps. In response, Minho stepped on his foot. Of course, Jisung tried to step on his foot right back, but Minho dodged. Jisung was grateful to be back in familiar territory. </p>
<p>When the three of them got to the freshman dorm, Minho peeled off to go to his apartment, waving goodbye. Before he left, Felix made sure to tell him that the theme for the party was Halloween.</p>
<p>“Why?” Minho had asked. “Halloween is like a week away.” Felix’s only response was a shrug, so Minho just sighed and promised to meet up with them at the party later and that was that.</p>
<p>Now Jisung found himself going through every article of clothing in his closet, searching for anything that could resemble a Halloween costume that he wouldn’t mind spilling cheap beer on. The options were limited.</p>
<p>Felix had already put his costume on, going for a simple set of cat ears on a headband and some drawn on whiskers. He and Seungmin had planned on going as a cat and dog, respectively. Jisung didn’t know what Hyunjin was going to do, but Jisung was sure he was farther along in his costume planning process than Jisung was.</p>
<p>Jisung groaned in frustration, flopping down on the floor amidst his pile of clothes. Felix snickered from his place on his bed. Jisung groaned again.</p>
<p>“Dude, you don’t have to wear a costume if you don’t want,” said Felix, taking pity on him. At those words, Jisung’s competitive personality kicked in. He would wear a costume to the party or he wouldn’t go at all.</p>
<p>Jisung hunted for his phone under the mess of clothes, finally finding it under a random pair of underwear and pulling up Minho’s contact number. Minho answered within two rings.</p>
<p>“Jisung? What’s up?” asked Minho. Jisung could hear the sound of clothes rustling in the background. He grinned. Perfect; Minho was in the same boat as him. </p>
<p>“Do you have a costume yet?” Jisung asked anyway. Minho’s silence was answer enough. “Do you wanna go dressed as each other?” Minho’s silence stretched on long enough that Jisung started to think his amazing idea wasn’t as good as he’d originally thought.</p>
<p>Then Minho said, “Yeah, sure.”</p>
<p>Excellent. </p>
<p>“Cool!” said Jisung. “Just wear your away jersey and I’ll wear my home jersey and then we can switch when we get to the house.”</p>
<p>“Sounds good. See you guys in a couple hours.”</p>
<p>Jisung hung up, turning to Felix smugly. Felix just shook his head in disbelief and turned his attention back to his phone. “You two are crazy. I can’t believe you hated each other for four years.” Honestly, Jisung couldn’t either.</p>
<p>The next two hours passed by fairly quickly. Eventually, Hyunjin and Seungmin came across the hall, and the four of them passed the time talking about absolutely nothing of importance. Their conversation consisted mostly of Jisung making funny little quips, Seungmin making funny little quips about Jisung’s funny little quips, and Hyunjin and Felix laughing at the expense of the both of them.</p>
<p>Felix and Seungmin looked cute. Their costumes, consisting of cat and dog ear headbands paired with simply drawn on whiskers and noses, were simple, yet functional. It was enough to fit in at a Halloween party, but not so much as to get in the way during drinking games.</p>
<p>Hyunjin, on the other hand, had decided to go all out for his costume. Jisung wasn’t sure if he’d already had a frumpy black suit or if he’d bought it solely for Halloween, but it looked great on him. He looked like a weirdly hot butler. Jisung wasn’t sure who or what he was dressed as, but Hyunjin would definitely be the hottest person there.</p>
<p>After Jisung said as much, Hyunjin informed him he was Riff Raff from Rocky Horror. A quick Google search made Jisung laugh; only Hyunjin could make such a funny costume sexy.</p>
<p>Jisung, on the other hand, had opted for a simple pair of jeans (which were admittedly pretty tight). His home jersey hugged his form, the black material matching his converse, his last name embroidered in white along the back of his shoulders.</p>
<p>By the time the party was about to start, it was around ten, and Jisung was itching to go. He’d been to his fair share of parties during the semester so far, but it had been over a week since the last one and he was ready to blow off some steam.</p>
<p>They mobilized as a unit, exiting their dorm and crossing the campus quickly. Within minutes, they’d left campus and located the off-campus football house. From the outside, it almost looked like a normal house on Thursday night, if normal houses had blacked out windows. No policeman would’ve looked twice if it hadn’t been for the muffled sound of music thumping from somewhere within the building.</p>
<p>The four of them walked through the small space between the football house and the neighbor's house, doing their best not to trip over empty beer cans strewn about the grass. Once at the back, a random guy opened the back door and they all squeezed past him.</p>
<p>As soon as the four of them passed the threshold, the strobe lights and pounding music took over their senses. Jisung could feel the stickiness of the floor under his converse, smell the sour stench of beer in the air. A perfect party.</p>
<p>Felix quickly found the table with the drinks and tossed them each a can before popping one open for himself and taking a chug. They moved as a unit through the crowd of moving bodies, spending more time pressed up against strangers than not. Felix led them through the tiny living room that served as the dance floor, signified only by the cheap LED lights hanging around the ceiling and the plethora of bodies dancing in it. </p>
<p>Felix found the door to the basement, pushing past a random couple making out against it. He pulled it open, and the four of them piled through. At the bottom of the stairs lay an unfinished basement, the cement floor perfect for spilling alcohol on. A table sat in the middle of the room, surrounded by football players, frat guys, and sorority girls at varying levels of intoxication, red solo cups strewn about the floor from earlier games.</p>
<p>Felix chugged his beer, crushing the can and throwing it on the floor. With a grin, he spread his arms and called out, “Hey! Let’s get a game of slap cup going in here!”</p>
<p>The frat guys responded to this with a drunken cheer. Jisung let the others go ahead to crowd around the table as cups were filled with cheap beer. Instead, he looked around the room, craning his head for a sign of-</p>
<p>“Ah!” Jisung yelped, shocked when a pair of arms wrapped themselves around his shoulders from behind and almost knocked him over. “Minho!”</p>
<p>Minho laughed, ruffling Jisung’s hair and letting him go. Jisung ran his hand through his hair in an effort to fix the mess, rolling his eyes. “C’mon, let's just change already.”</p>
<p>Jisung agreed, and the two of them swapped shirts right there. Volleyball locker rooms had stripped them of their modesty at a young age. Jisung popped his head through the orange jersey, the away version of his own home jersey, and grinned at Minho.</p>
<p>Jisung would’ve gone over to join the others at the game table, when another arm dropped over his shoulders, a buff one belonging to none other than Changbin. Minho looked equally surprised across from him as Chris gave him the same treatment.</p>
<p>“Hey you guys!” said Chris with a smile. “Fancy meeting you here.” Chris was decked out in what appeared to be a….vampire costume? His blond hair was slicked back, and he had fake blood around his lips. It would’ve been cringey if he hadn’t looked so sexy in his leather outfit. Some people were just unfairly attractive.</p>
<p>Still, Jisung was slightly confused. “Chris? Why are you here?” It was a valid question; what senior wanted to spend their Thursday with a bunch of drunk freshmen and sophomores?</p>
<p>But Chris just grinned and said, “I heard the theme was Halloween, and I fucking <em>love</em> Halloween.”</p>
<p>Changbin laughed. While Chris had gone for a ‘more is more’ kind of costume, Changbin had taken a ‘less is more’ type of approach. He’d found a white bed sheet, probably pulled right off his own bed, and wrapped it around himself in an imitation of a toga. Anyone any less ripped would’ve struggled to pull it off.</p>
<p>“So who are you guys supposed to be?” asked Chris. </p>
<p>Changbin looked at what they were wearing closely for the first time. His eyebrows scrunched. “Are those just our jerseys? Isn’t that kind of lame?”</p>
<p>Jisung and Minho grinned simultaneously, then turned to show the names on the back of their jerseys. Jisung was wearing Minho’s away jersey, while Minho wore Jisung’s home jersey. Changbin and Chris reacted the way they thought they would; with matching groans of exasperation.</p>
<p>With a great deal of jovial pushing and shoving, they joined the others at the table. Felix and Seungmin took no notice of their arrival; Felix was desperately trying to bounce his ping pong ball into his cup. It was to no avail, because Seungmin managed to get his ping pong ball in his own cup before Felix could succeed, and he slapped Felix’s cup away with a maniacal gleam in his eye. Felix shouted in frustration, grabbing a full cup from the middle of the table and chugging before beginning again. </p>
<p>Hyunjin, on the other hand, paid their arrival a little bit <em>too</em> much attention; his eyes seemed to be struggling to pull away from the sight of Changbin’s arms. Jisung was really going to have to remember to give him shit for that later.</p>
<p>Although if the way Changbin seemed to be sneaking glances at Hyunjin was any indication, Jisung might have to give them both shit. </p>
<p>However, these thoughts were quickly forgotten as the game really got underway. Although fairly simple, the game of slap cup became progressively harder the more alcohol a player had consumed. So it was easy to see why, after four rounds, everyone on the volleyball team was more than a bit tipsy.</p>
<p>Felix, who had been unfortunate enough to get stuck with the bitch cup (i.e. the cup in the middle of the table, filled to the brim with a disgusting mix of beer and hard liquor, bestowed upon the last person to have their cup slapped away), not once, but twice, could be more accurately described as trashed. </p>
<p>Hyunjin, who had ended up being the best at the game, and therefore had the least to drink, was nevertheless a lightweight; he hung off Changbin for support. If Jisung hadn’t known Hyunjin’s tolerance previously, he might’ve thought the middle blocker was acting in order to have an excuse to touch those big beefy volleyball arms.</p>
<p>As it was, that might’ve still been the case, but Jisung was inebriated himself, and so was unable to think too deeply about their actions.</p>
<p>“Seungmin!” called Felix, “Come dance with me!” His words were only slightly slurred. Seungmin allowed Felix to pull him up the stairs, steadying Felix when he stumbled. Jisung thought that dancing sounded amazing right about now, so he started to follow.</p>
<p>It was only when he stumbled on the stairs himself, and two hands grabbed his waist to steady him, that Jisung realized Minho and the others had followed as well and were on the stairs behind him.</p>
<p>They stumbled and laughed their way onto the dance floor. Felix and Seungmin had already created a small space for themselves, laughing and moving to the music. Jisung and the others squeezed in with them, listening to the music only enough to hear the beat.</p>
<p>Despite his current state, Felix was an excellent dancer. If he hadn’t been laughing and joking around, there definitely would’ve been more eyes on him. As it was, Hyunjin and Minho were the ones gaining the most attention; Minho’s hips were absolutely sinful, and Hyunjin was earning enough glances to make Changbin grimace.</p>
<p>Jisung was no slouch himself; after a few songs, he found himself slightly separated from the others. When he felt hands on his hips, reminiscent of when Minho had steadied him on the stairs, Jisung jumped. The alcohol in his system made him quick to relax.</p>
<p>With a single glance behind him, Jisung saw that the hands belonged to one of the frat guys who had played slap cup with them earlier. He was decently cute, and he’d been nice enough in the basement. At least, as nice as anyone could be during a drinking game with very little actual conversation.</p>
<p>Jisung allowed himself to close his eyes and lean back into the touch. It had been awhile since anyone had touched him. He didn’t much mind who the hands belonged to; girls, boys, it was all the same to him. It felt nice to be wanted, no matter who it was.</p>
<p>So when the frat guy pressed his chest against Jisung’s back, Jisung pressed back. The next two songs passed quickly; Jisung wasn’t grinding on the frat guy, per se, but he sure as hell wasn’t <em>not</em> grinding on the frat guy.</p>
<p>Eventually, Jisung turned around and wrapped his hands around the guy’s neck. It had been too long since he’d made out with someone, and this frat boy would be fine for blowing off some steam. Their mouths met in the middle, a continuation of their dance.</p>
<p>If Jisung was perfectly honest, the guy wasn’t that good at kissing. He was a little too forthcoming with his spit, and his hands wandered too much from their place on Jisung’s hips, moving under Minho’s jersey. </p>
<p>One song passed, then two, and Jisung started to get bored. When the frat guy bit at Jisung’s bottom lip hard almost enough to break the skin, Jisung pulled away without hesitation. That was enough for tonight. He dropped his arms and backed away with a smirk.</p>
<p>Jisung frowned when the frat guy grabbed his arms and tried to pull him back. He tugged free of his grip once again.</p>
<p>“Hey, man. That was fun, but,” he dragged out the ‘u’ in ‘but,’ pointing a thumb over his shoulder, “I’m gonna go look for my friends now.” For a split second, it looked like the guy might follow him, or grab him again. Just as Jisung’s pulse started to pick up, frightened about the possibility of this guy not taking ‘no’ for an answer, Minho was there.</p>
<p>Minho wrapped an arm around Jisung’s shoulder, glaring daggers at the frat guy. Then he turned to Jisung and his gaze softened instantly. “Hey, ‘sung. You good?” Then he glared at the frat guy again.</p>
<p>Jisung found himself leaning into Minho, more shaken than he’d originally thought. He tucked his face into Minho’s chest. “Yeah. I’m good.” He turned his face just enough to see the frat guy put his hands up in an effort to appear non-threatening, although his expression was angry. Then the guy just scoffed and disappeared into the crowd.</p>
<p>It was at that moment that Jisung came to his senses and realized the position they were in. Sure, Minho and Jisung were touchy, but Jisung’s face was still buried in Minho’s chest. He could even smell the cologne on Minho’s neck.</p>
<p>Jisung tried to jump back, but Minho’s grip instinctively tightened around him. It took Minho less than a second to release him, but by then, Jisung was inclined to stay. He wanted to stay. If Minho wanted him to stay, then he would.</p>
<p>Jisung attempted to laugh, but it came out more strangled than he would’ve liked. He cleared his throat. “Thanks.”</p>
<p>“No problem,” said Minho, avoiding his eyes. When he didn’t drop his arm, Jisung felt a rush of alcohol-fueled courage course through him, and he pressed his body closer. Minho blinked. “Jisung?”</p>
<p>Jisung looked up at Minho. Instead of asking what any of that might’ve meant, he just asked, “Want to dance?”</p>
<p>Minho opened his mouth to respond, then closed it without saying anything. He nodded. Felix chose that moment to appear beside them out of nowhere.</p>
<p>“There you are! I love this song! C’mon!” he said, speaking loudly to be heard over the thumping music. He grabbed both of their hands and pulled them further onto the dance floor. </p>
<p>Jisung was simultaneously relieved, but also disappointed. He was relieved because the tension had been broken; he and Minho were both unable to hold in their laughter at Felix’s excitement. On the other hand, he was disappointed because that same tension was gone. What would’ve happened if Felix hadn’t shown up?</p>
<p>It was no good thinking about what-ifs. They met back up with the rest of the team. Everyone was in basically the same place they’d been when Jisung had wandered off, with the exception of Changbin and Hyunjin, who had migrated closer to each other.</p>
<p>Jisung mentally sighed and prepared himself to forget about what might’ve happened with Minho if things had been different. He was not prepared for the feeling of a hand on his hand. Jisung looked down in surprise, then followed the arm up to Minho’s sheepish face.</p>
<p>“Do you still wanna dance?” Minho asked. His face may have been sheepish, but his voice was deep and sure. It ran down Jisung’s spine. He shivered. Then he nodded.</p>
<p>Some random party-goer chose that moment to fall into Minho, propelling him forward into Jisung. Jisung hands instinctively caught Minho, grabbing at his hips, like Minho had done for him on the stairs, like the frat guy had done on the dancefloor less than twenty minutes ago. Before Jisung could second-guess himself and let go, Minho wrapped his arms around his neck.</p>
<p>Jisung almost felt a feeling of deja vu, except that this time, Jisung was interested in the person in his arms. He cared deeply about this person, and would do anything to not mess up their relationship. But then Minho started moving, and Jisung forgot to worry. He let himself dance the way he wanted, with the person he wanted.</p>
<p>Needless to say, when Minho leaned his head down after a few songs, Jisung tilted his head up to meet him. The kiss was better than Jisung could have imagined. It made his little makeout with the frat guy seem like a joke. Jisung tightened his grip on Minho’s hips. Minho let out a small breath through his nose, and Jisung’s eyelids fluttered when he felt it against his cheeks.</p>
<p>If Jisung had been sober, he would’ve worried about Minho pulling away any second. As it was, he shouldn’t have worried; Minho had no intention of pulling away.</p>
<p>Jisung found himself wishing that Minho would hold pull him closer, hold him tighter, do anything-</p>
<p>“Hell yeah!”</p>
<p>They broke apart with a start. Felix, Seungmin, and Chris were looking at them with wide eyes, although Changbin and Hyunjin were nowhere to be found. Felix was pointing at the two of them, his mouth stretched in a wide smile, having been the one to speak.</p>
<p>Jisung felt himself blushing. He buried his face in Minho’s neck, and let the older player cradle him in his arms. Minho’s arms moved up from his shoulders and curled around his head, shielding him from the world.</p>
<p>“Felix, shut up,” said Minho. Jisung could feel Minho’s hand running through his hair, and he giggled. Then he suddenly stiffened, feeling his stomach suddenly start to revolt against the beverages he’d downed throughout the night. Minho felt this, and whispered, “Are you okay? What’s wrong?”</p>
<p>Once again, if Jisung had been sober, he might’ve read more into Minho’s words. He might’ve heard the worry, for Jisung’s comfort, but also at the possibility that Jisung was feeling regretful. </p>
<p>However, since he wasn’t sober, he simply whimpered, “I have to throw up.” </p>
<p>Then he bolted for the bathroom, leaving Minho and the others wide-eyed behind him.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Aftermath</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>new chapter new chapter new chapter! um, this is probably the closest I'll ever get to writing angst? i don't really like reading it so i have no interest in putting it in my own writing, ya dig? anyway, blink and you'll miss it lol</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>If Jisung had known that the <em>Incident</em>, as he had started calling the event in his head, wouldn’t be discussed later, he might not have kissed Minho. If he’d known that he and Minho would go on acting like nothing had happened, then he might’ve just laughed Minho off at the party.</p>
<p>Then again, if given the chance for a do-over, maybe he’d do it all the exact same way. </p>
<p>When he’d woken up the morning after the party, it had been with a pounding headache and the feeling that he was forgetting something important. It had taken Felix asking something along the lines of, “So you and Minho, huh?” for him to remember exactly what had happened. </p>
<p>Jisung had buried his head in his hands at the memory of Minho’s face when Jisung had ripped himself from his arms to go vomit his guts out in the bathroom.</p>
<p>And now, three days had passed without Minho mentioning any of it. Sure, they’d exchanged their usual text messages and interacted at practice and mealtimes, but no words were exchanged regarding their impromptu makeout session. Which was fine. Jisung was totally fine. It’s not like that makeout session had forced Jisung to confront his feelings or anything. It’s not like Jisung would do anything to hold Minho’s hand and run his fingers through his hair and-</p>
<p>Okay, so maybe Jisung wasn’t fine.</p>
<p>It especially didn’t help that Felix had spent the weekend telling Jisung that Minho definitely liked him. If Minho liked him, would’ve he have mentioned the <em>Incident</em> by now?</p>
<p>These were the thoughts hounding Jisung all weekend and into Monday. Which was just great, because it wasn’t as if Mondays weren’t already hell on their own. He accidentally slept through his alarm and was forced to roll up to his first class of the day looking like he didn’t know what a comb was.</p>
<p>Jisung shuffled into Statistics 101, eyes glued to his sneakers and his thoughts full of Minho. He slumped into his chair, pulled his headphones away from his ears, and hung them around his neck. It was a relief to pull his phone out of his pocket, a welcome distraction while he and the other students waited for the professor to start class.</p>
<p>However, once his music was no longer playing, he became painfully aware of how quiet the room was. The usual chatter that filled the room was gone. Jisung looked up from his phone, subconsciously checking to see what he was missing.</p>
<p>Of the forty or so people lounging around the small auditorium, about two thirds of them were pointedly avoiding looking his way, while the other third did a piss-poor job of sneaking glances at him. When he looked up, most of them hurriedly turned away. It was too late, though; Jisung was now fully aware that, for some reason, the entire class was hyper-aware of his presence.</p>
<p>Once the professor strolled into the room, most of the students turned their attention to the class at hand. Still, there were enough random glances sent his way throughout the fifty minute class for Jisung to feel on edge.</p>
<p>When the professor dismissed them, Jisung threw his notebook into his backpack and hurried from the room, desperate to escape their eyes. As he practically jogged through the hallway of the math building, he pulled his phone out of his pocket. There were a dozen or so messages from Felix, Seungmin, Hyunjin, and Minho. Jisung furrowed his eyebrows. It wasn’t unusual for him to receive text messages, but this amount in less than an hour was unusual. </p>
<p>Just as Jisung pulled up the message from Felix, he knocked shoulders with someone walking the other direction. He looked up instinctively to apologize, but his words failed him when the guy, someone he’d never seen before, looked him up and down condescendingly.</p>
<p>Jisung looked back at him in confusion, apology frozen on his lips. The guy just sneered and walked away. Before Jisung could make sense of what had just happened, he heard someone calling his name. He turned towards the entrance to the building, about twenty feet away. There, coming through the doors and waving his arm, was Felix.</p>
<p>Jisung instinctively smiled, raising his arm in return. Felix’s look of concern, visible even at a distance, was quick to wipe the smile from his face. Jisung stood against the flow of students, confused, while Felix jogged towards him.</p>
<p>“Felix? Are you okay?” asked Jisung. Felix grabbed his arm and started pulling him towards the exit.</p>
<p>“I’m fine, Jisung. Just come with me. You don’t have class for another two hours, right?” Felix’s voice was trying to sound nonchalant, but Jisung could hear his nervousness. So Jisung just let Felix pull him through the doors into the sunlight and across the lawn. The entire way, people seemed to be watching them, although Jisung started to doubt himself when Felix continuously ignored them.</p>
<p>Once they were sufficiently alone, away from most of the buildings, Felix stopped and let go of Jisung’s wrist. Then he plopped onto the grass under a lone tree and gestured for Jisung to do the same. </p>
<p>Once they were both sitting, Jisung said, “Felix, what the hell is going on? You’re making me nervous, man.” </p>
<p>“Jisung, you know how you and Minho made out at that party on Thursday?”</p>
<p>Jisung rolled his eyes. “Yeah, you won’t let me forget about it.”</p>
<p>Felix pushed at his shoulder jokingly. “C’mon man, I’m trying to be serious here.” Then his voice really did take on a serious tone. “I don’t know how to say this, so I’m just gonna rip the bandaid off. We don’t know who’s responsible, but someone posted a video of the two of you online. It’s all over the internet, dude.”</p>
<p>Jisung’s heart skipped a beat. No wonder everyone had been looking at him all morning. Their college wasn’t the smallest by any means, but it wasn’t huge either. If the video of him and Minho had gone viral, it was likely that most of the students had either seen or heard of it.</p>
<p>Felix was quick to continue. “I wanted to make sure that I was the one who told you! That’s why I was trying to message you during class, but you weren’t checking your messages, so I ran over as fast I could to grab you right after it ended.”</p>
<p>Jisung whipped his phone out, scrambling to check his messages. There, at the top, from Felix.</p>
<p><em>‘Jisung! Don’t check your Twitter! I have to tell you something!’</em> </p>
<p>Jisung scrolled past that to see what Seungmin and Hyunjin texted him. Unsurprisingly, their messages were very similar to Felix’s; don’t check social media, talk to Felix, etc.</p>
<p>Then there was Minho’s message, which simply read, <em>‘I’m sorry.’</em></p>
<p>Jisung’s heart sank. He threw his phone onto the grass beside him and buried his face in his hands.</p>
<p>“Jisung?” said Felix, worried. “I’m sorry someone decided to be a dick about this. Are you okay?”</p>
<p>Jisung laughed, but there was no humor in his voice. “God. I don’t care about the video. Fuck. I mean, I’m not happy that someone thought they could just air all my shit out without my consent, but it’s not like liking boys is a crime or anything. I’m not ashamed.” He picked his phone back up and handed it to Felix, unlocked to his conversation with Minho. “ALthough it looks like Minho might be. Ashamed to be seen with me, that is.”</p>
<p>“Oh,” Felix said, his eyes quickly scanning the text message; understanding, but not sure what to say to comfort him.</p>
<p>“What matters to me is Minho, and it looks like he’s feeling awfully regretful.” Jisung laughed without humor again. “I should’ve known this is how he felt. If he’d felt anything towards me then he would’ve talked to me.”</p>
<p>Felix shook his head, unwilling to accept this answer. “Jisung, you’re wrong. I’m so sorry this is happening to you, but you’re wrong. He <em>does</em> like you.”</p>
<p>Jisung could hear the frustration as it bled into his own voice. “Well then why hasn’t he said anything? Why is the first thing he says to me after being forced to acknowledge what we did together an apology?” </p>
<p>Felix looked like he was resisting the urge to shake Jisung by the shoulders. He said his next sentence with such conviction that Jisung almost believed it.</p>
<p>“Jisung, you dumbass! You guys have been flirting since the day you met!”</p>
<p>Jisung snorted. “We used to hate each other.”</p>
<p>Felix rolled his eyes, retorting, “Honestly, I think the two of you were just mistaking sexual tension for hate.”</p>
<p>Jisung shook his head. “No fucking way.”</p>
<p>Felix interrupted before Jisung could say anything else, his voice rising in volume. “And now you wear his shirt once a week!”</p>
<p>Jisung took a moment to realize what shirt Felix was even talking about, the one from that first midnight playing volleyball months ago.</p>
<p>“It’s literally just because it’s comfortable, and he said I could keep it! It’s technically my shirt now. It’s not weird!”</p>
<p>Felix sighed, like he was talking with a child who wasn’t understanding a simple concept. “Jisung. Did you forget? Minho leant me a shirt that night, too.” Jisung nodded, vaguely remembering. “He came up to me a few days later and asked for it back.” When Jisung still looked like he didn’t understand, Felix said, “Jisung. You’re special to him.”</p>
<p>Jisung rubbed at his eyes, suddenly tired. When he spoke, his voice slightly. “Then why hasn’t he talked to me?” Jisung suddenly felt the urge to cry. He pressed his lips together in resistance.</p>
<p>Felix instantly backed off at Jisung’s show of emotion, his voice softer when he said, “Why haven’t <em>you?</em>”</p>
<p>And of course, Jisung didn’t have an answer for that question. So Felix just wrapped his arms around Jisung and said nothing as he sniffled into his shoulder, never fully crying. After a few minutes, Jisung leaned back, wiping at his nose. Felix rubbed his back, murmuring words of comfort in his deep voice.</p>
<p>After a few minutes, they were ready to face the peering faces on campus. Felix walked Jisung to his next class, and the two went about the rest of their day as normally as possible. </p>
<p>Later that day, as Jisung got ready for practice, Hyunjin and Seungmin came over from their room. Without a word, the four of them walked together to practice. Jisung was beyond grateful for their silent support; it would’ve been infinitely worse if they had treated him like he was fragile.</p>
<p>Upon their arrival at the gym, the rest of the team looked over in unison. Chris was the first to approach them. He put a hand on Jisung’s shoulder.</p>
<p>“Hey, Jisung. I want you to know we’ve always got your back, no matter what,” Chris said.</p>
<p>Jisung appreciated Chris’ kind words, even if they were for the wrong reason. Chris thought Jisung was feeling shitty because he was forcibly outed. Definitely not fun, but also not the worst thing to happen to him. At this point, Jisung didn’t give a shit about the video; he just wanted to fix his relationship with Minho, which was seeming more and more unlikely.</p>
<p>As Jisung joined the group, he got pats on the back and kind words from everyone on the team. It warmed his heart to know that his team cared so much for him. After only two months, these boys were more of a family to him than his high school team had ever been.</p>
<p>“Jisung.”</p>
<p>Jisung turned. There, sitting on the bottom row of bleachers, was Minho. He laced up his volleyball sneakers, avoiding Jisung’s eyes. Jisung sat down next to him. He didn’t even have to look up to know that the rest of the team was trying to give them some privacy, setting up the court for practice with more intensity than usual.</p>
<p>Jisung waited for Minho to speak. Minho finished tying his shoe and placed his feet flat on the ground, focusing his attention on his hands on his knees rather than Jisung. </p>
<p>“Jisung, I’m sorr-”</p>
<p>“Stop it.” Jisung wasn’t sure what he wanted to hear from Minho, but it sure as hell wasn’t an apology. “I don’t want your apologies. You have nothing to be sorry for.”</p>
<p>Minho finally looked up at Jisung. Jisung couldn’t believe that this long overdue conversation was happening in front of their teammates, but he wasn’t going to back down just because they had an audience.</p>
<p>“Jisung, I-”</p>
<p>“No,” said Jisung, cutting him off again. He’d listen to Minho, but first Minho would listen to him. “Minho, I don’t care what people think about the video. I’m pissed that someone would take it and spread it, and I think it’s creepy as fuck, but I’m not embarrassed by it. I just want….” Jisung trailed off, aware that his voice had gradually risen in volume throughout his speech. Continuing in a more normal tone, he said, “I just want <em>us</em>, you and me, to be okay. Okay?”</p>
<p>Minho stayed silent for a moment, and Jisung held his breath waiting for his response.</p>
<p>“Me too,” said Minho quietly. “I want us to be okay, too. I was worried….” he said, looking at Jisung, his nails digging into his skin, “I was worried that you would hate me, hate me because I…..” He trailed off, looking away again.</p>
<p>Without thinking, Jisung reached forward and grabbed Minho’s hands in an effort to stop his anxious fidgeting. At his touch, they both stiffened. Then Minho relaxed and sent Jisung a small smile, and Jisung squashed his fears down into a little ball and shoved them as deep as he could.</p>
<p>Their coach blowing a whistle in the background made them both start and jump apart. They were on their feet in a heartbeat, jogging to join the rest of the team in their warmups. For the entire rest of practice, Jisung couldn’t help himself from glancing over at Minho between drills.</p>
<p>It made his heart race every time he looked over only to find Minho already looking back.</p>
<p>After practice, Minho said, “I’ll talk to you later?” and Jisung’s chest lightened.</p>
<p>Jisung walked on cloud nine back to the dorms that night with the other freshmen. Not even the chill in the air could cool the warmth rushing through his veins. Felix was just as excited.</p>
<p>“Ohmygod you guys held hands! And the way he was looking at you during practice? Did you officially confess? Are you guys gonna go out now?” Felix was speaking a mile a minute.</p>
<p>Jisung pushed Felix with a laugh. “Felix, shut up. No, I didn’t confess and neither did he. I don’t even know if he’s actually interested in me that way yet. But,” then he grinned, “he said he’d talk to me later.”</p>
<p>Seungmin snorted and shoved his hands in his sweatshirt pockets. “You sound like a high schooler whose crush just spoke to them for the first time.” That comment earned him a push as well. </p>
<p>The four of them joked around the rest of the walk back, and Jisung felt light as air. When they pushed through the front door and were about to walk into the elevator, Jisung suddenly remembered that he’d left his laundry in the laundry room dryer before practice.</p>
<p>With a departing wave towards his friends in the elevator, Jisung pushed through the door to the stairwell and took the stairs two at a time to the bottom floor. Once in the basement, he slid through the door into the laundry room, pulled his clothes from the dryer into the laundry basket he’d left down there, and headed up in the elevator with clothes in tow.</p>
<p>Felix was sitting on his bed when he arrived, Seungmin and Hyunjin already gone in their room across the hall. Jisung dumped the clothes on his bed and began putting them away.</p>
<p>“So you believe me now?” asked Felix. “That Minho likes you?”</p>
<p>Jisung couldn’t resist the smile that stretched across his face, so he kept his back turned to Felix. No need to give him more to tease about. Then he frowned.</p>
<p>“Hey, Felix? Did you happen to borrow some of my clothes?” Jisung asked, digging through the pile of clothes on his bed.</p>
<p>Felix frowned. “No? Why?”</p>
<p>Jisung just shook his head, staring down in confusion at his clothes. “I don’t know man, maybe I’m going crazy. But I think I’m missing some underwear?” He kneeled on the floor to look under the bed, but there was nothing. He tried to shake the feeling that something was wrong. He must’ve just misplaced them.</p>
<p>Except Jisung was absolutely positive he’d had at least seven different pairs of boxers in his laundry basket because he was almost out of clean pairs. And now there were only two.</p>
<p>Jisung felt a shiver go down his spine. Who would nab another person’s underwear? Was it a practical joke of some kind? He looked over at Felix to see if he was holding in laughter, but the other had already turned to his phone, paying no attention to Jisung’s confusion.</p>
<p>Jisung took a deep breath. Whoever had taken his clothes was probably just another freshman who mistakenly grabbed the wrong clothes, or who thought it was some kind of sick joke to steal from others. They’d probably show back up in the laundry room eventually. He would just have to wait until then.</p>
<p>So Jisung put the rest of his clothes away and pushed the problem from his mind. He climbed into bed, smiling, thinking only of Minho.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Oop</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>high-key my least favorite chapter of this entire fic, i think it was literally one of the last parts i wrote because it's so freaking boring lol. sorry everyone, they can't all be #exciting, some have just got to be #boringplotexplanations. </p>
<p>BUT good news!!! i'm really trying to finish this and have it uploaded ASAP because my classes start next week (ick) and i want to get this finished before classes really get into full swing!</p>
<p>ALSO i'm not sure how many people actually read these author's notes, and of those people, i'm not sure how many play genshin impact, but i was lowkey thinking about a genshin themed fic? and by lowkey i mean ive got like 14 pages of bullet points typed out that i would write if even one person showed even a little bit of interest. food for thought lol</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The missing boxers were just the beginning. Jisung started doing his homework in the basement in view of the laundry room when his next load of laundry also had several pairs of shirts missing. If someone was pulling an elaborate prank on him, he would fight back. After all, he was nothing if not stubborn.</p>
<p>Besides, it was hard to be too worried about some underwear-stealing weirdo when he and Minho were finally talking again. The junior had taken to texting Jisung good morning and goodnight, which never failed to make Jisung’s heart flutter, as much as he hated to admit it.</p>
<p>That particular morning, about a week after the <em>Incident</em>, Jisung had awoken to a text that read, <em>‘lunch today?’</em> Now, this wasn’t out of the ordinary; besides the three days or so after the party where they’d avoided each other, they had never stopped hanging out.</p>
<p>The only difference was now they were both consciously aware of the tension. It made Jisung’s competitive side erupt full-force; if Minho wanted to drag this out, then so be it. Jisung would flirt and joke around until Minho finally asked him out for real.</p>
<p>This was why Jisung was in a good mood as he walked into his first class of the day. His classmates had stopped looking at him funny once they realized he didn’t give a shit who had seen the video of him and Minho. He tossed his backpack on the ground and was about to fall into his seat when something caught his eye.</p>
<p>There, on the seat, the same one he sat in every Thursday at 10 AM, was a thumbtack. Jisung was dumbfounded; what was a thumbtack doing sitting pin up in <em>his</em> chair? And it <em>was</em> his chair. There may not have been assigned seating, but college students are creatures of habit; he and the rest of the students had sat in the same seats since the first day of classes.</p>
<p>If this tack was on this particular chair, then it was meant for him.</p>
<p>Jisung’s first reaction was disbelief. Was this something that people actually did? He’d only ever seen thumbtacks on chairs on television before today. His second reaction was anger. Why would someone do this? What did they have against him? Was it because of the video? Was someone out there so homophobic and cowardly that they’d stoop to such levels?</p>
<p>Looking back, Jisung probably should’ve had another reaction; fear. But in the moment, anger was the most prevalent emotion simmering under his skin.</p>
<p>Needless to say, Jisung’s good mood took a hit. Still, by the time his class ended and he’d walked across campus to the nicest dining hall, he’d managed to mostly convince himself that he didn’t care. </p>
<p>Jisung tossed his backpack onto the ground and dropped into the seat across from Minho with a grin. Any last trace of his bad mood was gone at the sight of the middle blocker smiling back. Or so he’d thought.</p>
<p>Minho’s smile dropped away and he said, “Are you okay?”</p>
<p>Jisung wasn’t sure what Minho had seen in his expression, but the question instantly brought the anger at finding the thumbtack back to the surface. He pursed his lips. Jisung didn’t want to ruin their lunch, not when he’d rather spend their time together flirting. He forced a smile.</p>
<p>“Yeah, I’m fine. Some dumbass decided it would be funny to put a thumbtack on my seat today,” Jisung said, rolling his eyes, like it was a minor convenience. He hoped that if he acted like it didn’t bother him, it wouldn’t bother Minho.</p>
<p>Boy was he wrong. </p>
<p>Minho’s face instantly hardened. Jisung had seen Minho angry before; after all, they’d been rivals for several years. However, he’d never seen Minho angry <em>for</em> him.</p>
<p>Honestly, it was kind of hot.</p>
<p>Jisung didn’t want to ruin their lunch, though, so he tried to laugh it off. </p>
<p>“Minho, it’s fine! It’s not like I actually sat on it or anything,” Jisung said with a small laugh. Minho’s expression didn’t change.</p>
<p>“You should tell your professor,” said Minho, voice serious. “It’s their room, their responsibility.”</p>
<p>Jisung shook his head, stubbornly clinging to the facade that he was unfazed. Maybe if he said it enough, then he would start to believe it himself. Minho glowered at him for the rest of their lunch. Jisung wanted to pull out his own hair; this was the exact reason he hadn’t wanted to bring it up.</p>
<p>Finally, Jisung couldn’t stand the silence and short one-word answers from Minho.</p>
<p>“Minho, I’m sorry.” Jisung didn’t even really know what he was apologizing for. He just wanted Minho to stop being mad at him.</p>
<p>Minho could tell. “I don’t want you to apologize; I want you to tell someone of authority.”</p>
<p>Jisung’s lack of a response was enough to let Minho know that wasn’t going to happen. Minho sighed. Then he reached across the table and grabbed Jisung’s hands. Jisung stared down at where their hands were intertwined. Their hands were both calloused and strong from handling volleyballs all their life, but when Minho rubbed his thumb over Jisung’s knuckles, it felt soft.</p>
<p>“I’m only saying this because I care about you,” said Minho, really looking at Jisung for the first time the entire meal. “I want you to be safe.”</p>
<p>Jisung felt like his heart was beating a mile a minute. He wondered if Minho could feel his pulse through his hands. He and Minho had been tip-toeing around each other’s feelings for a while now. Hearing Minho say that he cared about him felt amazing. It opened up the possibility that maybe they could be something <em>more</em>. </p>
<p>If only it hadn’t come up only due to some random person’s sick prank.</p>
<p>Jisung pulled his hands back, and Minho’s face fell. Jisung was about to tell him, <em>‘Wait, I care about you, too! I just want you to tell me you care because you want me to know, not because you think it’ll make me run to the teachers to complain about someone I don’t even know.’</em> He even got so far as opening his mouth, when Felix chose that exact moment to run up to their table.</p>
<p>Felix, as well-intentioned and bright as he usually was, failed to read the room and pulled another chair over to their table with a grin. </p>
<p>“Hey, guys! What’s up?” he asked.</p>
<p>Minho’s face took on its usual indifference. It was an expression that made Jisung’s skin crawl; it was the expression Minho used to make when they were in high school, like he couldn’t care less about Jisung.</p>
<p>“Oh, we were just talking about how someone put a thumbtack on Jisung’s chair this morning. Really fun stuff,” said Minho in an even tone. Felix’s eyes widened.</p>
<p>“Oh my god, do you think it’s the same person that’s been messing with your laundry?” Felix asked in a loud voice, ignoring the expression Jisung sent his way, trying to get him to shut up.</p>
<p>“What.” Minho’s voice was low and deadly. Uh oh.</p>
<p>Felix gulped, looking between the two of them. Ah, so the lightbulb had finally gone off. Now, even though he’d finally realized Jisung wanted him to be quiet, Felix was unable to ignore Minho. With an apologetic glance towards Jisung, Felix began explaining. </p>
<p>“Well, some weirdo has been stealing some of Jisung’s laundry. Some of his shirts and, um, underwear and shit,” Felix said timidly, shrinking back into his chair under the weight of Minho’s glare.</p>
<p>Felix didn’t have to deal with Minho looking at him for long because the middle blocker whirled around in his chair to face Jisung. Jisung raised his hands in front of him as if that would calm Minho down. Spoiler alert; it didn’t.</p>
<p>“Jisung, you have got someone stealing your underwear and going out of their way to physically hurt you. If you don’t go to the dean of students, I will.” Minho’s voice was even; he meant every word he’d said. Jisung sighed.</p>
<p>“Okay, fine. I’ll go. I’ll go first thing on Monday.”</p>
<p>Minho looked like he wanted to argue, but Jisung cut him off.</p>
<p>“We’ve got a game tonight, I’ve got a big test tomorrow that I need to study for, and I’ve got a paper due Saturday. I’ll go on Monday.” Jisung’s voice left no room for debate. Minho’s lips pressed into a thin line, but he nodded.</p>
<p>Jisung slumped down into his chair, tired. Minho and Jisung finished their food, then the three of them stood up to leave. Felix and Jisung went to head back to their dorm and were surprised when Minho followed them.</p>
<p>When asked why he was going in the opposite direction of his own dorm, Minho simply said, “Just thought I’d take a little walk.”</p>
<p>Despite that, Jisung knew it was because Minho was worried about him. Worried about him because he cared about him. So, in an effort to show that Minho’s intentions were appreciated, and also to hopefully convey that the feelings were mutual, Jisung let his hand drift to the side. He felt it brush against Minho’s hand once, twice, then he fully reached out and slipped his fingers through Minho’s. </p>
<p>Minho’s shoulders stiffened, but his stride never faltered. Felix, on the other side of Jisung, didn’t notice a thing, just continued to fill the silence with talk of yet another random classmate of his who’d done something outrageous for the umpeenth time.</p>
<p>Jisung tried to focus on the words, but he felt like every single cell in his body was concentrated in the palm of his hand. Minho felt so warm. Could he feel Jisung’s nervous sweat, the pulse of his heartbeat through his hands?</p>
<p>It didn’t seem to matter if Minho could or not, because he squeezed Jisung’s hand so tight it seemed like he would never let go. This was the closest they’d come to openly admitting their relationship was evolving.</p>
<p>Sure, they’d made out while drunk, and Minho had said that he’d cared for Jisung, but hand holding? In light of their past actions, hand holding was a whole other level of gay.</p>
<p>Jisung was elated.</p>
<p>Neither of them let go the entire walk back. When Minho finally left them at the entrance to the dorm, Jisung practically skipped into the elevator. He was noticeably happy, earning him a suspicious side-eyed look from Felix. </p>
<p>Just like that morning, Jisung couldn’t imagine his good mood dissipating anytime soon. And, just like that morning, the world was quick to prove him wrong.</p>
<p>Felix and Jisung walked up to their door, jokingly shoving each other, neither wanting to be the one to have to go to the trouble of getting their keys out. Jisung lost the tussle and began digging in his bag for his keys in front of a gloating Felix. So of course Jisung dropped his keys as soon as they were released from the confines of his backpack.</p>
<p>Jisung rolled his eyes when Felix laughed at him, leaning down to retrieve them. That was when his eyes caught sight of a piece of paper tucked under their door. He grabbed it, along with his keys, eyes skimming the typed words as he stood.</p>
<p>Jisung read approximately three words before he crumpled it up and shoved it in his jacket pocket angrily. Felix seemed confused as to why Jisung’s good mood was suddenly gone, and Jisung offered him no explanation. He just shoved the key into the keyhole and pushed the door open without a word.</p>
<p>Once inside, Jisung threw his backpack on the floor, tossed his jacket onto his bed, and sat at his desk with far more force than necessary. He pulled his laptop from his bag and opened it so as to appear like he was doing homework. Anything to distract him from the words on that stupid fucking piece of-</p>
<p>“Jisung?”</p>
<p>Jisung looked up quickly, unable to disguise his stormy expression before Felix could see it. Not that it mattered, because Felix was standing next to Jisung’s bed, the piece of paper in his hands. Jisung shouldn’t have been surprised; Felix knew him better than anyone. If he’d seen him shove the paper in his pocket, then of course he’d try to see what was on it.</p>
<p>But it was so easy for JIsung to redirect his anger at a person he could see.</p>
<p>“Why are you going through my stuff?” Jisung asked angrily. He stood abruptly and tore the paper from Felix’s hands. Felix offered no resistance, too worried about Jisung to take the bait. </p>
<p>“Jisung….” Felix said again, concerned. “This….this is a threat. Someone is threatening you.”</p>
<p>Jisung turned away, trying to compose himself. His breath was coming quicker than he would’ve liked. Why couldn’t Felix just mind his own business? Why was this happening to him? Why was it his destiny to appear weak in front of the people he cared about?</p>
<p>Jisung felt a tentative hand touch his shoulder, and he resisted the urge to shake Felix off.</p>
<p>“Are you okay?” Felix asked.</p>
<p>Jisung let out a cynical laugh. “Yeah, someone just left a note outside our door saying they hate me and that I should leave campus or they’ll do something worse than leave a thumbtack on my chair. I’m super-duper.” Jisung’s voice dripped with cruel sarcasm; he didn’t want to take his emotions out on Felix, but now fear was starting to set in. If he let himself reflect on the situation too long, he felt like he’d break down.</p>
<p>Luckily, Felix was an amazing friend who refused to rise to Jisung’s taunts.</p>
<p>“Jisung, this is proof that someone is targeting you specifically. This shows that the weird things that have been happening are purposeful, and it’s only going to get worse.” Felix slowly coaxed Jisung into turning around, although Jisung refused to raise his head to meet his eyes. “I don’t think you should wait until Monday to report this.”</p>
<p>Jisung struggled to swallow around the dry lump in his throat. He resisted the urge to shut down; that wouldn’t help anyone. He felt cold and kind of shaky, the worst nerves he’d ever felt times a thousand. There’s just something about having someone threaten your life that tends to induce just the tiniest bit of anxiety. Perfectly understandable.</p>
<p>“Anyone wanna grab food with us before the game?” Hyunjin’s voice seemed to materialize out of nowhere. Felix and Jisung’s heads shot in unison towards the door, which they’d failed to notice opening.</p>
<p>Seungmin and Hyunjin strolled into the room, not even bothering to knock. Hyunjin slumped into a chair without even glancing at them, but Seungmin remained standing. The setter tilted his head, picking up on the tension faster than Jisung would’ve liked.</p>
<p>“What’s wrong?” asked Seungmin suspiciously.</p>
<p>Felix and Jisung shared a glance. Living together for the past few months had made them better at communicating than either of them would’ve ever expected; Jisung just nodded in response to Felix’s silent question.</p>
<p>Without a word, Felix held out the note in Seungmin’s direction, distaste on his face. Seungmin grabbed it, noticeably confused. His confusion quickly morphed into the scariest expression Jisung had ever seen, dark and angry.</p>
<p>Hyunjin jumped to his feet, unhappy at being left out, and began reading over Seungmin’s shoulder. Before he could even finish, Seungmin said, “Who the fuck wrote this?” His fury was barely restrained.</p>
<p>Felix shrugged helplessly.</p>
<p>Jisung said, “It was on the ground outside the door.” His voice was emotionless.</p>
<p>Hyunjin finished reading the threatening note and asked, “Are you okay?” He looked up at Jisung, eyebrows furrowed in concern.</p>
<p>Jisung appreciated the concern, but his emotions were still all out of whack. He laughed, shocking everyone.</p>
<p>“Why does everyone keep asking me that?” Jisung laughed again, but there was no humor in his voice. “No. Nothing about this is fine. I don’t know why this is happening to me.”</p>
<p>Seungmin stepped forward and clapped him on the shoulder, assertively saying, “We’ll go with you to the campus police right now.”</p>
<p>Jisung’s eyes widened, and he instinctively said, “No!” When everyone looked at him in shock, he said, “We have a game tonight. We can’t miss it, and I don’t want to worry the entire team. It could throw off their games.”</p>
<p>Hyunjin’s expression was almost pitying, but Seungmin just looked angry. Before either of them could say anything, Felix butt in, saying, “<em>We’re</em> already worried! We don’t give a shit about the game tonight!”</p>
<p>Hyunjin and Seungmin seconded that sentiment, upset that Jisung didn’t want to go to the campus police immediately. Before the three of them could get too worked up, Jisung held up his hands in an attempt to get everyone to listen to him.</p>
<p>“Guys, I don’t want to let this go. I want to find the son of a bitch messing with my life more than anyone. But I’ll be damned if I let them ruin volleyball for me. They can do what they want in my classes, but I’m going to play in that game tonight if it’s the last thing I do.” Jisung could hear the conviction in his voice, and he had no doubt that the others could as well.</p>
<p>After a moment of silence, Seungmin sighed. Then he shook his head.</p>
<p>“You’re crazy. You’re absolutely crazy. If you’re sure, then we’ll go with you first thing tomorrow morning to report this.” He pointed a long finger at Jisung, narrowing his eyes. “But for the record, I want everyone to know that I think this is a bad idea. I think we should report this as soon as possible.”</p>
<p>Jisung let out an internal sigh of relief. If Seungmin had insisted on going to the police immediately, then there was no way the others would have agreed to wait.</p>
<p>Felix shook his head, too. “This is insane. Promise me that you’ll always have one of us with you,” he said earnestly, grabbing Jisung’s bicep. Jisung put his hand over Felix’s, suddenly grateful for the unwavering support.</p>
<p>Jisung swallowed around the lump in his throat and nodded at Felix. Felix pulled his hand back, eyebrows furrowed. </p>
<p>The four of them stood in silence for a few seconds, staring at the note in Seungmin’s hand with trepidation. Finally, Jisung snapped. He took two large steps forward and snatched the paper away, ripping it apart aggressively. They all watched the pieces float to the ground, an innocent reminder of someone’s violent threat to Jisung’s life.</p>
<p>“So,” said Jisung. “You said something about food?”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. I want my ring back, baby, that's a diamond</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>pt 2 of me using a song to pick a chapter title that is only very loosely related to the chapter. but i blame tiktok for putting me onto carolesdaughter's new song and i regret nothing.</p>
<p>but hello! this chapter is one of the longer ones. so many people have left such nice comments and that shit is like crack :] so here is your chapter in return. i have never attempted to write anything like this in my life, so yolo i guess lol</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Jisung would be damned if he let himself drag down the team. He didn’t give a flying fuck who threatened him, his team was more important than some petty college student with too much time on their hands.</p>
<p>Jisung entered the gym around five that night with the other freshmen after leaving a tense dinner at one of the dining halls. Jisung tried to lighten the mood by ignoring all of his problems until after the game. To no one’s surprise, he pointedly ignored the others when they tried to bring up the fact that he had literally been threatened only a few hours earlier.</p>
<p>Eventually, Seungmin had just thrown his hands up in defeat while Felix ran his hands over his face dramatically. Hyunjin had been less annoying about Jisung wanting to wait until tomorrow morning to report the incident; he’d resorted only to pouting continuously the entire meal.</p>
<p>By the time they’d walked into the gym to meet up with the rest of their teammates for warmups, they were almost able to act completely normal. Jisung even managed a toothy grin when he saw Minho, exchanging a small wave with the older boy.</p>
<p>Chris and the others called out a greeting to the four of them.</p>
<p>“Hey! Now that everyone’s here, we can get suited up and start our warm up laps,” he said with a grin. The response was the usual chorus of groans, although no one complained further.</p>
<p>Within half an hour, they were suited up in their game jerseys and back on the court, going through their usual warm up stretches and drills. By the time six thirty rolled around, only thirty minutes to game time, Jisung was feeling great. There was nothing like the game he loved with his favorite people to make him feel loads better.</p>
<p>The stands started to fill with people, hundreds of students making their way to their seats. It was definitely one of their better turnouts; there was nothing like a crowd to get Jisung fired up. It also definitely helped that Minho spent the entire time warming up flirting rather aggressively with him. Jisung felt like he could conquer the world. </p>
<p>One of the referees blew the whistle, and the two teams lined up on their respective sides of the court. After signaling the game was about to start, the two teams took their spots.</p>
<p>Jisung was ecstatic; he’d been putting in a lot of work and started to earn a lot more playing time lately. Tonight would be his first game on the starting roster. He was joined by Chris, Changbin, Minho, Darnell, and Malik. It was also going to be Felix’s first time starting over Ethan; their coach had decided that this game was a perfect opportunity to start letting the freshmen get their feet wet.</p>
<p>Within minutes, Jisung knew; he was in peak form tonight. Maybe it was the weather, maybe it was feeling invincible with Minho and the others behind him, maybe it was the fact that he could take his anger at his current situation out on the team across the net.</p>
<p>It was obvious that everyone else recognized how well he was playing, too. Chris started leaning on him a bit heavier when it became obvious the other team’s defense was struggling to shut him down. The crowd seemed to hold its breath every time the ball was set for Jisung, and the roar that erupted when he inevitably slammed the ball onto the court or off the arms of a defender for another point was thunderous.</p>
<p>The first set wrapped up with a win for Jisung and his team. He jogged off the court with a grin, accepting high fives from his coach and teammates on the bench. Jisung and the other playing members quickly slumped onto said bench, gratefully accepting the water bottles being handed to them.</p>
<p>Jisung gulped down the water, wiping the sweat from his forehead. He could feel the adrenaline pumping through his veins, the thrill of being completely on his game. Their coach kneeled in front of them and began drawing some plays on his white board, describing some of the movements he’d seen the other team make and ways they could counter them.</p>
<p>It was at that moment that Jisung became aware of the growing pressure in his bladder. He stood up, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible. He tapped the assistant coach on the shoulder and gestured towards the bathroom, earning himself a nod and a <em>‘be quick.’</em> </p>
<p>Jisung gave the assistant coach a double thumbs up and jogged away from the court and through the exit reserved for players and coaches. He glanced back right as he was about to walk through the door and saw Minho glancing over at him with a curious look. Jisung paused, one hand on the door frame, wiggling his fingers in a little wave. Minho wiggled his fingers back, and Jisung slipped through the door with a smile tugging at his lips.</p>
<p>Jisung slammed through the locker room door with the force of someone who’d done it a thousand times. He practically skipped to the bathroom. He relieved himself quickly, then washed his hands, itching to get back out onto the court.</p>
<p>Jisung splashed some water on his face, rinsing sweat off and removing some of the flush from his cheeks. It was then, while he was leaning over the sink, that he heard the sound of a locker closing from the room over. </p>
<p>Jisung froze instinctively before relaxing, sure it was just one of his teammates taking a bathroom break like him.</p>
<p>“Hey, how much longer until the next set?” Jisung called out, grabbing a paper towel and drying his hands and face. When there was no response, he pulled the towel away from his face and looked up, perplexed. “Hey. Who’s there?”</p>
<p>Jisung half expected Felix to bound around the corner to try and startle him, but when he poked his head around the corner, the part of the room he could see was empty. There was no one in the bathroom behind him and no one in the locker room in front of him. His eyebrows pinched together.</p>
<p>Jisung walked slowly into the center of the locker room. From where he was standing, he could see the exit to the locker room that led out into the hallway and the front side of a row of lockers.</p>
<p>Jisung took a step forward.</p>
<p>“Guys?”</p>
<p>He heard sudden footsteps from behind the row of lockers in the middle of the room, the source of the sound hidden from his view. Whoever was there darted down the row of lockers, away from the door.</p>
<p>Jisung’s stomach dropped. </p>
<p>Then he was moving, faster than he ever had. In an effort to cut the stranger off, Jisung sprinted around the other side of the lockers. Within seconds, he’d ducked around and could see the other side of the locker room. His heart pounding, he took in….nothing. No one was there.</p>
<p>Jisung heard the door to the locker room slam, and he took off in that direction. He burst through the door, just as he had done on the way in. Only this time he wasn’t smiling. Jisung looked back and forth down the hallway wildly, sure he had a crazed look in his eyes. Just like the locker room, the hallway was empty.</p>
<p>Jisung ran towards the sounds of the gym and burst through the large doors, neck craning for any glimpse of the freak who’d snuck into their locker room. The constant roar of the crowd, usually so comforting and exciting, served now only to make it nearly impossible to hear his own thoughts.</p>
<p>Whoever that was, they ran away when they’d heard Jisung. It could have been some random college student in the wrong place at the wrong time. Or it could have been Jisung’s crazy killer stalker. And whoever it was, they’d disappeared into the masses on the bleachers.</p>
<p>Jisung spun around and around, eyes straining as he tried to find anyone who looked out of the ordinary in the crowd, the whites of his eyes showing as he desperately searched for anyone out of place.</p>
<p>“-sung. Jisung. Hey, Jisung.”</p>
<p>Jisung only became aware of the voice calling his name once the person grabbed his bicep, shaking him out of his thoughts. At his side, Minho looked at him with concern, releasing his arm only once Jisung focused in and made eye contact.</p>
<p>“I was just about to come looking for you, we’ve got like thirty seconds until the second set starts,” said Minho slowly, taking in Jisung’s wide eyes. His eyebrows furrowed. “Are you okay?”</p>
<p>Jisung gave one last frustrated look towards the stands before closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. He looked up at Minho and smiled, tight-lipped.</p>
<p>“Hell yeah, let’s do this.” Jisung’s voice was determined. He squared his shoulders, chin held high. He pushed past Minho and strode onto the court. Minho followed, but Jisung never looked back, never saw the worried look Minho threw his way.</p>
<p>If Jisung had been playing well during the first set, then he was playing the best game of his life during the second one. He was everywhere at once; receiving spikes that should’ve been impossible to reach, squeaking spikes past the defense with incredible speed and power. He was right where he was needed at all times, reading the movements of the other team and his own teammates perfectly and devastatingly fast.</p>
<p>Jisung’s energy was contagious. Minho and the others thrived off of every amazing play he made. Chris’ sets were perfect almost every single time, and any time the ball veered off course, the spikers adjusted beautifully.</p>
<p>Even in his game-focused haze, Jisung had room to notice how beautiful Minho was. The spiker was in his element, strong and precise and overwhelming. His eyes were wild with adrenaline, and Jisung had never been more attracted to him in his life.</p>
<p>The second match ended with Jisung making an excellent receive. The ball flew in a beautiful arc, right into Chris’ relaxed hands. In a split second, the ball was set to Minho, who slammed the quick set flawlessly.</p>
<p>The crowd erupted, but Jisung had eyes only for Minho. The middle blocker landed lightly on his feet and spun, locking eyes with Jisung. The high of a perfect connection ran through Jisung’s veins, and he slammed into the older player, wrapping his arms around his torso and laughing.</p>
<p>The rest of their team was quick to follow. Within seconds, Jisung and Minho were at the center of a mass of sweaty volleyball boys in the midst of a victory celebration. They’d won the first set decisively, and the second set hadn’t even been close.</p>
<p>Jisung grinned. He reached out and grabbed onto whoever was closest to him, holding the shoulders of what might’ve been Minho and maybe Changbin. He felt at least two different people hanging over his back, jumping onto the pile.</p>
<p>Jisung had never felt more fulfilled in his life; doing what he loved with the people who mattered most.</p>
<p>If only someone hadn’t threatened him. Kind of a bummer.</p>
<p>They made their way to the net, calming down enough to line up and high five the other team. </p>
<p>
  <em>Jisung remembered the last time he’d seen that victorious look on Minho’s face. It had happened two years ago, the night Minho and his team knocked Jisung’s team out of the running for the state championship.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Jisung remembered the frustration, the grief, of having their run cut short. He remembered the anger that had coursed through his limbs when Minho had had the audacity to grin like that, victorious at Jisung’s expense. </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Minho had reached under the net, hand gripping Jisung’s in a firm handshake. It would be the last time they’d meet each other from opposite sides of the court, although Jisung hadn’t known it at the time.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“Good game, Han,” said Minho. His smile never wavered. Jisung couldn’t even remember what he’d said in response. All he could think about was Minho’s stupid perfect teeth, and his stupid perfect eyes, creased in happiness. It was infuriating, it was evidence of his loss, it was-</em>
</p>
<p>Beautiful. Minho was beautiful.</p>
<p>Jisung would give anything to see that victorious grin on Minho’s face every single game, every day, every minute. Especially when it was aimed at him.</p>
<p>It took everything in Jisung to tear himself away from the sight and focus on the opposing team across the net. He accepted their well wishes for future games and tried not to look too excited about their win.</p>
<p>The players then filed off the court to their coaches and received a round of congratulations for their excellent performance. Jisung especially received quite a few high fives.</p>
<p>They grabbed their water bottles and towels from the benches and made their way towards the locker room. Normally, they’d escape unbothered into the private hallway and go over their game in greater detail before separating, but the crowd chose that moment to mob the court, the high of the win infecting them as well.</p>
<p>Within seconds, they were surrounded by students and spectators.</p>
<p>Most of the people who rushed down were girls; if Jisung hadn’t been enamored with Minho, he would’ve been on cloud nine. As it was, he could see Chris and most of the others teammates grinning from ear to ear as countless girls tried to gain their attention (and maybe their numbers). </p>
<p>Jisung saw Hyunjin rub the back of his neck sheepishly. Then Changbin swooped in out of nowhere and began pulling him through the crowd and away from at least seven visibly disappointed college students. Seungmin slipped through the crowd behind them, laughing. Jisung was about to follow them when he felt someone grab his wrist, keeping him in his place. He turned his head curiously to see Minho standing with his back partially turned towards him.</p>
<p>The middle blocker gave him a quick look that said, <em>‘please don’t leave me here alone,’</em> before turning back to face the girl in front of him. Jisung frowned as he tried to place where he knew her from.</p>
<p>It took her saying, “Hello Minho,” in a sweet voice, followed by an absolutely scathing glare directed at Jisung for him to remember. She was that girl who’d thought him and Minho might be dating, back before Jisung even had any idea that Minho was gay. In fact, it’d been that encounter that had led to Jisung realizing his feelings for the other.</p>
<p>Jisung laughed internally, amusing himself with the thought that her asking Minho out had resulted in the exact opposite outcome of what she wanted. Too bad he still couldn’t remember her name.</p>
<p>She waited until Minho looked down at his sneakers for a second as if they’d tell him the best way to deal with her. As soon as he sighed and resigned himself to the encounter, she changed her expression into one of pure innocence. Jisung rolled his eyes so hard they hurt.</p>
<p>Minho didn’t bother to pull his hand away from Jisung’s wrist, and Jisung struggled to focus on the conversation they were having over the blood rushing at the point of contact between him and Minho.</p>
<p>Jisung paid attention enough to hear Minho say, “Hey, you’re um…” before trailing off. </p>
<p>Jisung was unable to resist smirking a bit when she was forced to say, “Alice. My name is Alice,” obviously upset that Minho had failed to remember. Minho made a noise of feigned recognition that did nothing to hide the fact he still didn’t remember at all.</p>
<p>“Right. Alice. Can I help you with something?” Minho asked. Jisung was reminded of the first time the two of them ran into this random girl; the conversation had started in a very similar manner.</p>
<p>Alice smiled, her lips stretching far too wide.</p>
<p>“I wanted to say that you played very well today and ask if you’ve thought about my offer.” Her tone was sickeningly sweet. It made Jisung want to vomit. If she’d bothered to look his way again, he might’ve been tempted to feign gagging just to piss her off, but she refused to even acknowledge him after she stopped glaring at him.</p>
<p>Minho coughed, eager to be done with the interaction. “Thanks, we all worked hard tonight. As for your offer,” Minho said, taking that moment to slide his hand down Jisung wrist and into his hand, entangling their fingers together, “I am still very much gay. So I would appreciate it if you would kindly fuck off.”</p>
<p>Minho’s tone was matter-of-fact, and it made Jisung want to giggle with elation. The implication of his actions was not lost on Alice. She looked down at their joined hands, acknowledging Jisung for the second time. This time, she was unable to hide her rage from Minho, her tensed brows and pursed lips revealing the anger she felt.</p>
<p>Jisung hoped that Alice would finally take the hint and leave them alone. Instead, she simply made eye contact with him, her gaze dark and dangerous. Jisung resisted the urge to shiver. She was just some girl, so why was he slightly unnerved?</p>
<p>Jisung and Minho watched, hand in hand, as she turned on her heel and stomped away without another word.</p>
<p>Once the crowd swallowed Alice up, removing her from their line of sight, Jisung became hyper-aware of how sweaty his hand was in Minho’s. If he hadn’t still been flushed from just finishing their game, he might’ve blushed. Jisung subconsciously started to pull his hand away, not wanting Minho to feel how gross and clammy he was.</p>
<p>However, before Jisung could free his hand, Minho tightened his grip. Jisung looked at him with wide eyes, grateful for the fans distracting his teammates. One side of Minho’s lips quirked into a small smirk, and he winked in a way that was jokingly flirtatious. Jisung felt butterflies flutter about in his stomach. Outwardly he rolled his eyes, squeezing Minho’s hand right back.</p>
<p>The two of them managed to escape the crowd, sneaking out of the gym after the others and banging through the door into the locker room. Inside, Changbin, Seungmin, and Hyunjin were already mostly changed out of their uniforms. </p>
<p>Jisung’s first instinct was to pull his hand away to keep them from seeing, but he ignored that instinct and instead gripped Minho’s hand even tighter. Seungmin, who’d just exited the bathroom area, stopped in his tracks when he saw them. Hyunjin, who was combing through his hair in front of a mirror, looked up when he saw Seungmin freeze and followed his line of sight, eyes widening upon noticing their entwined fingers. Even Changbin, who usually had eyes only for Hyunjin, couldn’t help but stare at the newcomers.</p>
<p>Then Seungmin threw his head back and laughed. He laughed so hard his shoulders shook.</p>
<p>“Fucking finally!” Seungmin said, pretending to wipe a tear from his eyes. “I was so sick of the pining.” He walked over to Jisung and Minho and whispered, “Now we just have to wait for you-know-who to stop being little bitches,” jerking a thumb in Hyunjin and Changbin’s direction.</p>
<p>Jisung was too overwhelmed by the entire situation to fully comprehend the implications of Seungmin’s statement. Luckily, Felix and the others chose that moment to push their way into the locker room, loud and rambunctious. </p>
<p>Jisung and Minho were on the same page, letting go of each other's hands instantly. They weren’t ashamed, but they also hadn’t actually had a conversation about their relationship yet. They should probably get their shit together before they aired it out for everyone to see.</p>
<p>They weren’t quite fast enough, though; Felix, who had been in the front of the group, was the only one to see the interaction. His eyes widened, and he opened his mouth to no doubt ask what the hell was happening, but Jisung and Minho shot him matching glares telling him to stay quiet. </p>
<p>Felix’s mouth snapped closed, but his expression made it clear he would expect an explanation later.</p>
<p>Jisung turned away, ears red, and walked to his locker. He pulled it open and began slowly getting dressed, tugging off his jersey and pulling on a pair of sweatpants. He dug around in his locker for a few seconds, looking for his sweatshirt. Then he shrugged; he must have forgotten it in his rush to get out of the dorm earlier.</p>
<p>The guys were loud and rowdy after their decisive win, so he didn’t hear Minho sidle up to him until he was right next to him. Jisung jumped a little bit, making Minho laugh quietly. Jisung punched him lightly on the arm in retaliation, which made Minho laugh harder. Jisung just rolled his eyes, turning back to his locker and digging through the mess of clothes in search of his phone and keys.</p>
<p>“You played well today,” said Minho casually, leaning against the locker next to Jisung. Jisung pulled his phone out of his locker and slipped it into his pocket. </p>
<p>“You too,” Jisung responded, equally casual. He frowned a bit when his keys didn’t immediately appear from under his clothes. </p>
<p>“I was wondering if you wanted to go to the movies with me tomorrow to celebrate,” Minho said, keeping his tone light and flippant.</p>
<p>Jisung froze, turning to face Minho for the first time. Minho’s arms were crossed in an effort to seem relaxed, but Jisung could see the tension in his shoulders and jaw as he waited for Jisung’s response. The longer Jisung stared, the more tense Minho became.</p>
<p>Finally, Jisung laughed quietly, his eyes crinkling with unbridled joy. He punched Minho again, putting no force behind the action.</p>
<p>“I thought you’d never ask,” Jisung said. Then he winked, stealing Minho’s signature move. “I thought you’d just keep holding my hand randomly and not saying anything,” he joked. Minho rolled his eyes in response to that jab.</p>
<p>“Well, if you want me to stop…” Minho said, trailing off, raising his eyebrows. Jisung shook his head quickly in response. Minho smirked. “That’s what I thought.”</p>
<p>Then Minho became aware of the fact that Jisung was still digging around in his locker and asked, “Did you lose something?” He said it in a teasing voice, but Jisung furrowed his eyebrows.</p>
<p>“Actually,” said Jisung, giving his locker one last sweep, “Maybe? I was a little distracted before the game. First I forgot my sweatshirt, and now I can’t find my keys.” Jisung sighed, slamming his locker shut. “I must have left them in my dorm.”</p>
<p>Minho laughed at Jisung’s predicament. Jisung crossed his arms and stuck his tongue out at him. </p>
<p>Minho said, “Well, I can’t help you with the keys, but I have a solution for the sweatshirt.” Then he pulled his sweatshirt over his head, his hair mussed up in a way that Jisung found endlessly cute, and held it out.</p>
<p>Jisung tried his best to be nonchalant when he reached out to grab it, but his hands were shaking a little bit. He could literally feel his ears turning red. Still, he pulled it on over his head without a word. Minho ruffled his hair once his head popped free, and Jisung buried his hands in the front pocket, smiling softly. </p>
<p>“Thanks,” said Jisung. “I’ll see you tomorrow?”</p>
<p>Minho smiled and reached out a hand to tug on one of the sweatshirt strings. “Yeah. I’ll text you.”</p>
<p>They just looked at each other for a few seconds, lost in their own world. Then Jisung suddenly had a weight around his shoulder in the form of a certain libero named Felix. “What are we talking about boys?” His voice was light and joking, but he gave them both pointed looks. Felix had come to collect on some answers.</p>
<p>“We were discussing our movie date tomorrow,” said Minho. He leveled Felix with an even look.</p>
<p>Felix’s mouth dropped open at Minho’s easy admission. His head whipped around to Jisung. Jisung could do nothing except blush at the fact that Minho had called it a date without any fanfare. Jisung’s reaction cemented it as the truth, and Felix squealed loud enough to attract Chris’ attention from across the locker room.</p>
<p>Felix just smiled sheepishly at him and waved their captain off. Chris shrugged and turned back to his conversation with Darnell. Felix immediately shook Jisung lightly by his shoulders.</p>
<p>“Dude. DUDE. Are you guys serious?” Felix’s head snapped back and forth between the two of them. Their sheepish smiles told him all he needed to know. “Holy shit. Holy shit! That’s great! Don’t forget me when you guys become the power couple on campus, I <em>will</em> follow you around on your dates if you try to abandon me.”</p>
<p>Jisung rolled his eyes as Felix blabbered on, but then he smiled. Felix was his best friend. Despite his immediate instinct to bug them, Jisung knew that Felix was happy for him and Minho.</p>
<p>“I’m not going to abandon you,” said Jisung, patting Felix on the hand that hung over his shoulder, speaking as though he was talking to a child. Upon seeing Felix’s shit-eating grin, Jisung added, “Yet.” Felix pouted.</p>
<p>“Just as long as you don’t show up at the movie theaters and try to sit with us, I don’t care,” said Minho. Then he reached forward and tugged Jisung into his chest. “Jisung is all mine tomorrow.”</p>
<p>Jisung pushed against Minho’s chest, putting an arm’s length between them. He tried to ignore how fast the solid feeling of Minho’s chest under his hands made his heart beat. He could feel his ears burning, so he buried his face in the sweatshirt, remembering at the last second that it was indeed Minho’s sweatshirt, which only served to embarrass him even further.</p>
<p>Before he could explode in front of his friends, Jisung said, “Stop flirting with me in front of my roommate. I have to deal with him later.”</p>
<p>Felix and Minho both laughed at Jisung’s misery.</p>
<p>Chris chose that moment to walk up to them and say, “We’re gonna swing by the dining hall and grab some post-game grub. Are you guys in?” Felix and Jisung simultaneously perked up at the mention of food, making Chris chuckle. “I’ll take that as a yes. We’re gonna head out in a sec.”</p>
<p>Once Chris had wandered off, Jisung groaned. “Shit. I think I forgot my keys at the dorm. My student ID is with them.”</p>
<p>Minho waved him off. “I’ll swipe you in.”</p>
<p>Jisung shook his head. “No, that’s okay. If I jog, I can make it to the dorm and back to the dining hall in ten minutes.”</p>
<p>Minho shrugged. “If you’re sure.”</p>
<p>JIsung nodded, swinging his sports duffel bag over his shoulder. “Yeah, don’t worry about it.” Then he headed towards the door, leaving his teammates behind with a wave. “See you in a bit!” </p>
<p>Then Jisung was gone, jogging through the halls and out into the chilly night air. The bite of the wind made Jisung happy that he was wearing Minho’s sweatshirt. He made it to the dorm in record time, sliding through the door behind someone who <em>hadn’t</em> forgotten their student ID like a dumbass. As he walked into the dorm room, he was grateful for the fact that he and Felix almost always forgot to lock it.</p>
<p>Although, now that Jisung thought about it, maybe they should start locking that, considering someone had left a freaking death threat outside their door.</p>
<p>Jisung saved that thought for later and pushed the door open. He tossed his bag on the ground and started looking around the room for his stuff. It took him three short minutes to realize that his keys were nowhere to be seen. His sweatshirt was right on his bed where he had expected it to be. However, there were no keys to be found. </p>
<p>Jisung’s brows furrowed, and he started to doubt his memory even further. He could have sworn that he’d brought his keys with him. Then he’d thought that maybe he left them with his sweatshirt. Seeing his sweatshirt right where he’d left it, sans keys, made him feel as though he’d definitely brought them with him to the game and thrown them in his locker.</p>
<p>Had someone….taken them? No one on his team would take them would they? Jisung was honestly too tired and hungry to worry about it at this point. So he just sighed, grabbed his sweatshirt from the bed (if he was hoping Minho would wear his sweatshirt in return, that was no one’s business but his own), and closed the door behind him when he left.</p>
<p>Jisung crossed the dorm parking lot and headed towards the woods, starting down the paved paths that served as shortcuts for the students to get to their classes. He began jogging, glad for the lights spaced out every twenty or so feet, illuminating the darkness and reducing the shadows cast by the tall trees.</p>
<p>After a minute, Jisung pulled his phone from his pocket and dialed Minho. Minho answered after only two rings.</p>
<p>“Jisung?” said Minho.</p>
<p>“Minho, hey,” responded Jisung, only slightly breathless due to his jogging pace. “I couldn’t find my keys. Would you still be willing to swipe me into the dining hall?”</p>
<p>Minho laughed. “It’s lucky you’re cute. Yeah, of course. Are you almost here? I’ll meet you at the front.”</p>
<p>Jisung opened his mouth to respond, but then he heard something that sounded an awful lot like footsteps coming from the woods in front of him. He slowed down, trying to quiet the sounds of his own footsteps in order to hear more clearly.</p>
<p>“Jisung?” Minho’s voice was small and tinny through the phone in Jisung’s hand, which had fallen away from his ear as he listened intently.</p>
<p>It took only a few seconds to realize that he was definitely hearing footsteps. It sounded like whoever it was was walking through the woods in his direction.</p>
<p>Then the lights on the path went out, plunging Jisung into darkness.</p>
<p>Then footsteps broke out into a run.</p>
<p>Jisung’s response was fully instinctual. Every nerve in his body was screaming at him to run. Like something out of a horror movie, Jisung dropped his sweatshirt and spun around fast enough to almost send him sprawling to the ground. Luckily, he shot out a hand fast enough to catch himself and took two staggering footsteps before regaining his balance and sprinting away.</p>
<p>Maybe it was an overreaction. Or maybe whoever had left a death threat outside his dorm room had come for him.</p>
<p>“Jisung? Jisung, are you okay?” The concern in Minho’s voice would’ve made Jisung feel warm and fuzzy in any other situation. As it was, he could barely hear over the rasp of his breath in his throat. His heart was pounding, adrenaline rushing through his veins. He didn’t think he’d ever run faster in his life.</p>
<p>Jisung could tell he was putting distance between himself and whoever it was that thought it was a good idea to chase down a person in the dark. Still, he wouldn’t allow himself to relax until he was under a streetlight in the presence of witnesses.</p>
<p>So of course Jisung tripped. </p>
<p>Without the light of the path’s lights to illuminate the walkway, Jisung was forced to rely solely on what little gleam shone through the branches, courtesy of the moon. Needless to say, it wasn’t enough for him to see the rock in his way. What would have been easily stepped over during the day now sent him crashing to the ground.</p>
<p>Jisung’s hands scraped the rough surface of the walkway in his instinctual attempt to break his fall, the skin tearing open. Only Minho’s sweatshirt kept his arms from receiving the same treatment.</p>
<p>Jisung tried to scramble to his feet, but crumpled to the ground as he realized his ankle couldn’t support his weight without sending shooting pains up his leg. Jisung let out a whimper of pain and grabbed his calf, curling over his leg in an attempt to calm the nausea building in his throat.</p>
<p>The rush of blood in Jisung’s ears subsided enough for him to hear the faraway sound of Minho calling his name through his phone. Jisung gulped and lunged for his phone, which had crashed to the ground next to him.</p>
<p>“-sung! Jisung! What the fuck is happening?! Are you okay?” The concern in Minho’s voice, faraway through the phone, had evolved into barely contained panic. He was obviously trying to remain calm for Jisung’s expense, which Jisung would have appreciated if he was in his right mind. As it was, he was just grateful beyond belief to not be fully alone right now.</p>
<p>“Minho! Minho, I’m here,” Jisung gasped out, pain making his voice tight. “I’m on the west pathway, about halfway from the dorm.” He was about to beg him to come get him when he heard the footsteps approaching. </p>
<p>Jisung’s head shot up, but he couldn’t make out the person in the dark. Every shifting tree was a face, every snapped twig a threat. Jisung’s heart beat a mile a minute, his skin clammy. His ears strained for any hint of where the stranger might be.</p>
<p>Before they could get close enough to pose a threat, Jisung shouted, “Back the fuck off! I called the police, you asshole!” </p>
<p>The footsteps stopped.</p>
<p>For ten long seconds, there was nothing except the sound of Jisung’s rasping breaths and the creaking of trees in the wind. Then the footsteps were running again, only this time they were running away, receding more and more until Jisung could no longer hear them.</p>
<p>Jisung flopped to his back, sprawled on the ground, panting. He gripped his phone hard enough to hurt, his fingers twitching with left-over adrenaline. He put the phone to his ear and listened for a second.</p>
<p>On the other end, he could hear Minho panting, along with the slapping of a dozen running feet against the ground.</p>
<p>“Minho?” Jisung asked, voice breathless. “Would you come pick me up?” For the amount of adrenaline still rushing through his veins, he sounded decently calm.</p>
<p>“Jisung,” Minho said, voice strained as he ran, “We’re coming. Stay where you are. Is someone still there? Chris called the police, don’t hang up.”</p>
<p>He didn’t have to tell Jisung twice. Jisung was happy to breathe and listen to Minho through the phone, taking comfort in the ragged breaths, knowing Minho was on his way. </p>
<p>It took Minho and his other teammates less than three minutes to find where Jisung was still laying on the ground, trying to ignore the throbbing in his ankle. He could hear them long before he saw them, a stampede of men coming down the path from the direction of the dining hall.</p>
<p>Minho was the first to reach him, falling to his knees. His hands grabbed at Jisung’s face, desperate. “Jisung, are you okay? What happened? Who did this?”</p>
<p>Only now, once he was surrounded by his teammates, did Jisung finally feel safe. The warmth of Minho’s palms on his cheeks enabled him to take a deep breath for the first time in what felt like hours. Jisung brought his own hands up to his face, placing them over Minho’s. Then he smiled.</p>
<p>“Hey,” said Jisung nonchalantly. “Fancy meeting you here.”</p>
<p>Minho’s expression was a mixture of disbelief, outrage, and relief. Before he could decide on any one emotion, Jisung said, “I fucked up my ankle. Can you help me up so we can get out of here?”</p>
<p>Minho swallowed his questions with visible effort, putting aside his own interests in favor of helping Jisung remain calm. Maybe he could tell how close Jisung was to the mental edge, how easy it would be for him to fall.</p>
<p>So Minho didn’t say a word, responding to Jisung’s question simply by reaching one arm under his shoulders and the other under his knees. Instead of helping him to his feet, Minho squatted and scooped Jisung up into his arms, muscles straining with the effort. However, once he stood up straight, Minho felt sturdy beneath Jisung’s weight.</p>
<p>Jisung yelped, throwing his arms around Minho’s neck to steady himself. Once off the ground, Jisung could see the rest of his teammates standing around in a loose circle, concern etched onto their faces.</p>
<p>Felix pushed to the front of the group, silently asking Jisung a question. Jisung made eye contact and responded with a nod. Felix’s face darkened, and he looked over at Seungmin and Hyunjin, the only other two people who knew about the threat.</p>
<p>Chris stepped forward, taking charge, his mere presence spreading a sense of calm determination throughout the team. He pointed at Minho and Jisung and said, “Minho, take him to the hospital. My car is parked at the gym.” Then he turned to Felix and the other freshmen, saying, “You guys should go with them.” His intentions were crystal clear; he obviously thought Jisung might need the comfort. “The rest of us will stay here and wait for the police to show up so we can give a statement and then send them your way.”</p>
<p>Felix grabbed Chris’ keys when he held them out, but Seungmin shook his head. He and Felix had a silent conversation before Felix nodded, reminiscent of the one Jisung had just had with Felix himself.</p>
<p>“I’ll stay here,” said Seungmin. When Hyunjin gave him a questioning look, Seungmin said, “I have something that the police should hear. Changbin can go with them to the hospital.” Hyunjin made an ‘ah’ of realization.</p>
<p>The rest of the team stared at Seungmin, not understanding. Seungmin ignored them all and focused on Jisung, still in Minho’s arms. “Jisung. Is it okay if I tell them? I won’t if you don’t want me to.”</p>
<p>Jisung could feel Minho stiffen, but the middle blocker didn’t say anything, not wanting to interrupt. Jisung sighed and leaned his head against Minho’s chest. Now that he wasn’t in any imminent danger, he just felt tired. He wanted to lay down and not worry about anything for the next eight hours.</p>
<p>Jisung was more than happy to let Seungmin take some of the responsibility, saying, “I don’t mind. I trust you.” Seungmin nodded. Jisung felt relieved; Seungmin would tell the rest of the team and the police when they arrived to collect their statement. It would undoubtedly result in the police conducting a more serious search of the woods.</p>
<p>If Jisung hadn’t been so exhausted, he would have felt guilty for letting Seungmin take the heat when the others wondered why they hadn’t gone to the campus police the second someone had threatened Jisung. As it was, he was just too tired to care.</p>
<p>So Jisung just sighed again and said, “And can someone look for my sweatshirt? I dropped it somewhere over there.” He reached out an arm in a general gesture towards the direction he’d run from, the same direction the team had come from.</p>
<p>If Jisung hadn’t been so distracted, he might’ve seen the confused looks his teammates exchanged. But he didn’t.</p>
<p>Jisung buried his face in Minho’s neck. He could still feel the tension in Minho’s muscles. The junior finally started walking, Changbin and Hyunjin trailing after them. Halfway down the path, back towards the dorm and the gym and Chris’ car, Jisung started to laugh.</p>
<p>He felt Minho’s arms tighten around him. Jisung was sure the others were exchanging concerned glances, but he ignored them in favor of giggling. Minho finally swallowed and said, “What’s funny, Jisung?” He no doubt thought Jisung had finally lost his mind.</p>
<p>But Jisung just shook his head, glancing up at the sharp line of Minho’s jaw. In a quiet voice still full of humor, he said, “Dude. The last time you came to my rescue we ended up making out at a party. Do I get, like, more compensation for this one? Maybe second base?” Jisung wiggled his eyebrows.</p>
<p>Minho choked out a laugh, and his arms tightened around Jisung even more. Jisung could hear Hyunjin and Changbin laughing quietly, obviously guilty about finding humor in the situation and wondering whether they should be laughing at all.</p>
<p>Minho looked down at Jisung, who raised his eyebrows suggestively. Minho rolled his eyes and finally smiled a small smile. He let out a quick breath through his nose and leaned his forehead against Jisung’s.</p>
<p>Jisung couldn’t help the laugh that escaped him when Minho said, “Fuck yeah.”</p>
<p>After that, the walk practically flew by.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Down the Rabbit Hole</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>IT'S ME AGAIN. remember when i went over a month without updating? and now here i am within like a week with three updates. i wrote this chapter so long ago that i fully forgot what happened, and when i was going through it looking for grammatical mistakes, i realized i hated it. so i gutted it and rewrote most of it. it went from barely 1k words to 3k (which still isn't as big as last chapter but they ig that's fine lol). it still feels like things are happening too fast, but i don't want to drag it out too long bc im worried i'll end up hating it lmao. so much for slow burn rip</p><p>anyway, i kind of switched up what was gonna happen, and now i have to completely re-do the last chapter, so here's to hoping i don't mess it all up at the last second!!!!! thanks to everyone who's left me comments, you all really keep me going &lt;3</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The next few hours were a flurry of doctors and cops. </p><p>The nurses tended to his ankle, adeptly informing him that it was a bit more than a mild sprain and would require him to stay off his feet for at least a full week followed by several more weeks of limited use. </p><p>The cops fluttered about, more of a nuisance than anything. They took Jisung’s statement and connected it with whatever it was that Seungmin told them at the crime scene in the woods. Jisung was thankful that he could finally turn over the threatening note (fetched from his room by Hyunjin), but he seriously doubted the police’s ability to do anything to help him. If their dumb questions were anything to go by, he’d be better off conducting his own investigation.</p><p>Jisung was more than happy to watch them leave once they finally decided they collected enough information from Jisung and the others in the hospital room. As soon as the door shut behind them, Minho rolled his eyes.</p><p>“Great. Lots of help they’re going to be,” Minho complained.</p><p>Jisung nodded, frustrated.</p><p>Hyunjin took a seat next to Jisung on the hospital bed. Jisung scooted to the side enough to let him lean back against the pillow, their arms pressed together from shoulder to elbow. Jisung took a deep breath and accepted the silent gesture of comfort.</p><p>Minho paced around the room, arms crossed, tense. He’d been doing that ever since Jisung explained everything to the police.</p><p>Changbin, who was curled up in a chair in the corner, tensed every time Minho walked by. Eventually, he made a noise of vague annoyance and grabbed Minho’s sleeve, pulling him down into the empty chair next to him. Minho sat without a fight.</p><p>Jisung smiled weakly when Minho looked up at him, eyes fierce. Now they knew everything. Jisung had been distracted while the cops and nurses were there. Jisung was still insanely tired, burnt out from the questioning and sore from his injury. Now he was alone with his friends for the first time since they’d arrived at the hospital hours before.</p><p>Time to face the music.</p><p>It surprised Jisung when Changbin spoke first.</p><p>“I’m sorry,” Changbin said. The sadness in his voice made Jisung’s stomach clench with guilt.</p><p>“Changbin, no,” said Jisung, his voice thick. “Please don’t apologize. This is my fault-”</p><p>Jisung didn’t get the chance to finish whatever he was going to say because Minho was on his feet in an instant. “No. Don’t you dare. This isn’t anyone’s fault except the psycho freak who threatened you.” His firm tone left no room for argument. Not that Jisung wasn’t willing to try.</p><p>“But if I had just listened to Seungmin and Felix and Hyunjin and you and told the dean of students as soon as I knew something was wrong, maybe I could have-” Jisung tried to say.</p><p>Minho cut him off again. “Jisung, we already know why you did it. I may not agree, but I understand.”  It didn’t matter that Jisung had already given his explanation for waiting to the police, his fixation on volleyball motivating him to wait when he shouldn’t have. It didn’t make him feel any less like a dumbass.</p><p>Minho walked over and took a seat next to Jisung’s hip on the bed, opposite Hyunjin. Hyunjin stood up and walked towards the door, gesturing for Changbin to follow. Changbin caught on after a few seconds, and the two took that opportunity to slip out of the room, leaving Minho and Jisung to their conversation.</p><p>Minho continued, unperturbed by their exit. “I’m upset that you didn’t tell me, but I’m even more upset by the fact that you ended up hurt.” He picked up Jisung’s hand from where it was resting on the bed, holding it in his lap like it held the answers to the universe. Jisung tried to catch his eyes, but Minho refused to look up.</p><p>Minho laughed dryly. “How am I supposed to take you to the movies if you can’t walk?”</p><p>Jisung snorted. He put his other hand on top of Minho’s and squeezed. “We can still watch a movie without going to the movie theater.” He smirked. “You’ll just have to join me while I’m bedridden for the next few days.”</p><p>Minho fully laughed then. He finally looked up at Jisung.</p><p>“Please don’t do something like this ever again. I don’t give a fuck about volleyball if it’s at your expense. Nothing in this world is worth you getting hurt.” Jisung blushed at Minho’s earnest tone.</p><p>Jisung looked down at their intertwined hands, trying to pull himself together. Why was he acting like a blushing twelve year old around a crush? He watched as Minho pulled his hands free, but refused to look up from his own hands curled up in his lap.</p><p>However, he was forced to look up when Minho cradled his face in his hands. It was the second time that night that Minho had held Jisung like this, but it was the first time that Minho said, “Jisung. Is this okay?” Minho leaned forward until Jisung could feel his breath ghosting across his lips.</p><p>Jisung bit said lips and closed his eyes.</p><p>“Please,” he whispered.</p><p>Minho surged forward, pressing their lips together with a tenderness that would have made Jisung’s knees weak if he’d been standing. Jisung reached up and grabbed Minho’s wrists from where his hands were against his face. Minho tensed for a split second, wondering if Jisung was going to pull away, but Jisung used his grip to hold Minho close.</p><p>Jisung pushed forward into Minho. Minho relaxed, accepting Jisung’s advances with a hum. Jisung smiled against his lips, and Minho couldn’t help but smile back, ending their kiss. Minho kept his hands against his cheeks, the tips of his fingers buried in the hair behind Jisung’s ears. Jisung also kept his hands where they were, fingers digging into Minho’s wrists in an effort to solidify that this was indeed real.</p><p>For a few seconds, they did nothing but breathe each other in. Then Minho leaned back.</p><p>“I’ll bring the popcorn,” said Minho.</p><p>Jisung laughed, and pecked him on the lips. He smirked as he leaned back.</p><p>“Deal.”</p><p>Of course, Changbin chose that moment to reenter the room. He was looking backwards, mid-conversation with Hyunjin, but he cut off with a yelp when he turned and saw the position Jisung and Minho were in. Changbin’s hand instinctively shot up to cover his eyes, although the action was ruined when he peaked between his fingers.</p><p>“I didn’t see anything, I swear,” Changbin said.</p><p>Jisung just giggled quietly as Hyunjin’s head popped over Changbin’s shoulder, neck craning for a glimpse. “Wait,” Hyunjin said, “I actually didn’t see anything. Do it again. Did you kiss? You definitely did, didn’t you? Darn it, Changbin, we shouldn’t have come back so fast. Maybe we could’ve walked in on something more exciting.”</p><p>At that, Minho and Jisung both started laughing at the scandalized look on Changbin’s face.</p><p>The next few hours flew by. Jisung was grateful for his friends’ presence. If he’d been alone, he thought he might go insane. As it was, the late hour finally started getting to everyone. Once Hyunjin yawned for the fifteenth time, Changbin announced it was time for them to leave. Hyunjin only put up a small fight before allowing himself to be led away from the hospital room, promising Jisung he would see him first thing next morning.</p><p>Jisung waved him off, assuring Hyunjin he was fine.</p><p>“I’ll be back in the dorm tonight. We can grab breakfast tomorrow,” Jisung said with a grin. Then, “Thank you. For being here. Both of you.” Jisung looked at Changbin as he spoke, too. Changbin and Hyunjin gave him matching smiles.</p><p>“Of course,” they said in unison. Then they were gone with a wave, the door swinging shut behind them.</p><p>That left Jisung alone with Minho. A few hours ago, the idea of being alone with Minho in a room with a bed would’ve made his head explode. As it was, he was ready to be back in his own bed. The nurses had assured him there was no need for an overnight visit. The big holdup had been the cops; once the doctor prescribed Jisung some pain medication, he would be free to leave.</p><p>Unfortunately, said doctor was taking his sweet time.</p><p>Jisung groaned, burying his face in his pillow. Minho, who had taken Hyunjin’s original position on the hospital bed, patted his back consolingly.</p><p>“Should be any minute now,” said Minho, trying to cheer Jisung up. Jisung’s response was another groan, muffled by the pillow. Then he perked up, startling Minho with his sudden movement.</p><p>“Hey, Minho, would you be willing to do me a favor?” Jisung’s voice was innocently sweet, his eyes wide. Minho recoiled, instantly on guard. Experience told him that a sweet Jisung was a dangerous Jisung.</p><p>“What is it?” Minho asked, voice cautious. Jisung pouted. Minho narrowed his eyes, even more suspicious. Jisung rolled his eyes.</p><p>“Oh, c’mon, it’s seriously nothing bad.” Jisung pondered, then added, “This time.” Minho laughed. “I was just wondering if you’d grab me some of that pudding from the cafeteria?” The puppy eyes were back.</p><p>Minho tried to hold out as long as possible, which meant, of course, that he quickly caved. He sighed, ruffled, Jisung’s hair, and said, “I’ll be right back.”</p><p>Jisung grinned. Minho strode out the door in search of pudding, and Jisung resigned himself to fifteen or so minutes alone and bored. He wished he’d had Minho hand him his phone before he left.</p><p>Needless to say, his head snapped up when the door to his room opened, excited for his pudding and company. Also needles to say, he was incredibly surprised when the person entering the room was not Minho, but Alice.</p><p>First Jisung was confused. Then he was annoyed. First of all, this girl made it abundantly clear that she couldn’t stand Jisung. So what was she doing here? He voiced those exact thoughts as succinctly as he could.</p><p>“What the fuck are you doing here?” Jisung asked. Once again, he regretted leaving his phone out of reach. There was no way to reach it without drawing her attention.</p><p>Alice sneered.</p><p>“I heard you were stuck here. I thought it would be the perfect time to have a little chat. Alice turned a cool gaze on him. She looked him up and down, taking in his bandaged ankle and rumpled clothes. Jisung bristled under her scrutiny. He squared his shoulders, trying to look as intimidating as possible.</p><p>Alice sneered again. Jisung had never felt so looked down upon in his life, not even by the middle aged woman who used to watch him every time he went into his local convenience store because she was convinced he was going to try to steal something. (Nevermind the fact that one time he actually did steal a candy bar just to spite her).</p><p>“I want you,” Alice said, speaking as though Jisung were a baby incapable of following her sentence, “to stay out of my relationship with Minho.” Jisung was so thrown off guard that he was stunned into silence for a few seconds. Alice took that opportunity to continue spouting bullshit. “I know you brainwashed him,” she said. “He would never go for someone like <em>you</em> unless he was seduced. It’s wrong.”</p><p>Jisung wished he had the strength to be the bigger person, but his indignation won out.</p><p>“You dumb bitch. If anything, Minho seduced <em>me</em>.” Jisung took great pride in watching her snooty expression morph into one of anger.</p><p>Alice darted towards him, and it took every muscle in Jisung’s body to keep from flinching back. He stared at her, unimpressed, as she stuck her finger in his face, shaking it angrily.</p><p>“Don’t you <em>dare</em> say that,” Alice hissed. Her face pressed closer. “I will be the one to save him from your hellish grip. Do <em>not</em> make me hurt you.”</p><p>Jisung laughed, the sound cruel and condescending. He was beyond the point of caring about angering her. This girl was making him so furious that he forgot about his handicap momentarily.</p><p>“Oh, really?” Jisung raised an eyebrow and gave her small, weaponless hands a once-over. “And how exactly are you going to do that?”</p><p>“You think I can’t get to you? We live in the same dorm. I know your classes. I have access to you.”</p><p>Jisung felt ice cold at her words.</p><p>“My laundry….?” Jisung mumbled, connecting the dots.</p><p>Alice nodded, a vicious gleam in her eyes. “The laundry. The tack. The video.”</p><p>At those admissions, Jisung’s head snapped towards her.</p><p>“That was you?” Jisung asked, furious.</p><p>Alice lips pressed into a line. “Yes. Not that you’ll ever be able to prove it.”</p><p>Jisung shook his head, in shock. “And I suppose you’re the one who left that threat and chased me through the woods,” he said, gesturing to his ankle with an angry wave of his hand.</p><p>At his words, Alice narrowed her eyes. “I’m not surprised you’ve managed to make more than one enemy, but I wouldn’t be so stupid as to leave physical evidence,” she sniffed.</p><p>Jisung wanted to scream. He wanted to shake her until she started making sense, until all of his questions were answered. As it was, he settled for grinning maniacally, more of baring of teeth than a smile.</p><p>“Could have fooled me.”</p><p>Alice practically vibrated with fury. The finger she’d shoved in Jisung’s face shook with the effort it took her to not hit him. Her voice was low and furious, saying, “I may not hurt you physically, but I can make your life a living hell. I’ll tell the police you attacked me. Your volleyball career will be over. Who do you think they’ll believe? I’m just an innocent little girl.”</p><p>Jisung wanted to laugh in her face. So he did.</p><p>“You don’t actually think that would work, right? I knew you were delusional, but dear lord, you’re batshit crazy if you think that would work.”</p><p>Alice slapped him.</p><p>Jisung’s head snapped to the side, shocked. His hand rose to his cheek, the skin burning. He hadn’t actually thought she’d hit him. At most, he’d thought she would threaten him. He’d been wrong.</p><p>Before Jisung could react, the door to the dorm room opened, and in strode Minho carrying two pudding cups.</p><p>Like something out of a poorly written drama, the three of them froze. Alice was still standing over Jisung on the bed, and Jisung was still cradling his smarting cheek. Jisung didn’t know what conclusions Minho jumped to, but they must have been horrible, because he reacted after less than a second of taking in the scene. Minho dropped the pudding on the ground and took two decisive steps forward to grab Alice’s wrist in a crushing grip.</p><p>Minho spun her with enough force to send her stumbling towards the door. Then he placed himself between her and Jisung, creating a makeshift barrier.</p><p>“What are you doing here?” Alice asked breathlessly. “I watched you leave for the night. You shouldn’t be here.”</p><p>Jisung didn’t bother to wonder how she knew he’d left. He didn’t have time to do so even if he had wanted to, because Minho said, “What the actual <em>fuck</em> do you think you’re doing?” His tone was venomous.</p><p>Minho was livid. Jisung had never seen the man so angry. If the situation hadn’t been so insanely crazy, Jisung might have found the anger at his expense kind of sexy.</p><p>Alice doesn’t seem to pick up on this. If Jisung had had any doubts about her delusions, her response would have cleared them up completely. “Don’t worry about it, babe. I’m taking care of it. I’m helping you.” She sounded like she believed what she was saying. Alice fully believed that Jisung was manipulating Minho, and that she could save him by getting rid of him.</p><p>Minho did not take that explanation well at all.</p><p>“You’re fucking crazy,” Minho said incredulously. “Did you hit him? How dare you.” Minho’s voice was scathing. “Don’t you ever lay a hand on him ever again.” He pointed a threatening finger at her. His voice shook with emotion. “I don’t know why you’re doing this to him, or why you keep bothering me, but if I ever see you near him again I will end you.” Without looking away from Alice for even a second, he held out his phone and said, “Jisung, call the police.”</p><p>Alice gaped at him for a few seconds. Then anger clouded her eyes. Jisung scrambled to take the phone and dial in the numbers for the campus police.</p><p>“Can’t you see what he’s done to you?” Alice said, voice rising in volume. “He’s corrupted you! I’m setting you free!”</p><p>Minho laughed, a wicked sound. “You’re crazy. You’re an insane stalker and I’m going to make sure you can’t hurt the people who are important to me ever again. Get out of my sight.” When she still didn’t move, Minho raised his voice to say, “<em>Now</em>.”</p><p>Alice made a disgruntled noise and finally backed out the door. Minho didn’t move until her footsteps receded completely. Then he slammed the door closed, locking it behind him. He turned around, facing Jisung from the door. The two of them looked at each other for a few seconds, trying to wrap their heads around what the fuck just happened.</p><p>Minho was finally the one to break the silence.</p><p>“So that was….”</p><p>“Yup.”</p><p>“Was she the one who….?”</p><p>At this, Jisung shook his head. Minho’s eyebrows furrowed.</p><p>Jisung’s voice was almost devoid of emotion when he said, “She admitted to stealing my laundry and leaving the thumb tack in my chair. But she wasn’t the one in the woods, or the one who left the note.” The idea that there was someone else out there, someone he didn’t know, who wanted to hurt him twisted Jisung’s stomach.</p><p>Jisung was so tense that he jumped when Minho placed a hand on his shoulder. He didn’t resist when Minho sat down and pulled him into a fierce hug. Minho’s words were intense as he mumbled them into Jisung’s hair.</p><p>“We’re going to figure out what’s happening. I’m going to protect you.”</p><p>Jisung wrapped his arms around Minho and wished he could believe him.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Backseat Serenade, Little Hand Grenade</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>ummmmmm,,,,,, hey everyoneeeeee,,,,, long time no see? anywhoooooo, sorry for the wait ig lol. has this been edited? not even a little bit. all the other chapters got a once over, but this was directly copied and pasted from my google docs, so sorry for any mistakes!</p>
<p>I was gonna try to get the last chapter out before my classes started, but ig we all saw how well that went lmao. but it's here now! the last chapter! (technically the penultimate installation because who knows, maybe I'll throw in an epilogue (although I wouldn't necessarily hold my breath if i were you guy, we all saw how well that went the last time lol))</p>
<p>anyways!!!!! enjoy!!! sorry for the wait, but hopefully it's an acceptable ending to our little story &lt;3</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>If Jisung thought the hours in the hospital were difficult, then the next three days in his dorm were absolute torture. </p>
<p>The doctors told him to remain in bed as much as possible for at least a week in order to speed up the healing process. Jisung knew that if he wanted to get back on the court as soon as possible, he’d need to wait it out, as painful as sitting still was. As a result, the other freshmen were in charge of picking up his assignments from his professors while he sat around twiddling his thumbs. Jisung got out of bed only to hobble over to the bathroom, since his teammates also took turns bringing him food.</p>
<p>In other words, Jisung was bored out of his mind.</p>
<p>Jisung could only play video games for so many hours before he started wanting to socialize outside of the dorm room. And it wasn’t like the only exciting thing in his life, the investigation into the person who’d left him bedridden, was turning up anything either. The campus police had been about as helpful as Jisung thought they would be, i.e. not at all. Whoever it was was still out there, living their life while Jisung was stuck here.</p>
<p>At two in the afternoon on the fifth day, Jisung threw his video game controller across the bed and slumped against his pillow in defeat. Even the fact that he and Minho had finally confirmed that their relationship was romantic in nature wasn’t enough to lighten his mood. All he wanted was a smooch, but Minho hadn’t kissed him since that night in the hospital room.</p>
<p>Who passed up an opportunity like this? Apparently Minho.</p>
<p>Jisung didn’t let himself doubt Minho’s feelings. He’d gone through too much to doubt that Minho liked him. It just seemed like he and Minho weren’t quite on the same page. Jisung would wait as long as Minho wanted. Jisung would never risk making him uncomfortable. But if Minho was waiting for Jisung to be comfortable, then there was <em>definitely</em> a miscommunication.</p>
<p>Let’s just say, Jisung had been very surprised when they’d laid in bed on Jisung’s first day in the dorm and actually <em>watched</em> a movie during their Netflix and chill session.</p>
<p>Jisung buried his face in his pillow and groaned. His phone vibrated from somewhere under the blankets, so he groaned again. After digging around in his sheets, he finally found his phone and held the screen up to his face. Despite his confusion about Minho, it didn’t stop him from smiling when he read the text message from the middle blocker.</p>
<p>
  <em>‘i figured you were bored. i hope you like ice cream sandwiches’</em>
</p>
<p>Jisung quickly typed out a message.</p>
<p>
  <em>‘ofc i like ice cream sandwiches u sandwich’</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>‘rude. what does that even mean’</em>
</p>
<p>Jisung laughed. In his hand, his phone chimed again.</p>
<p>
  <em>‘i’ll be there in fifteen minutes’</em>
</p>
<p>Jisung typed out an acknowledgement and tossed his phone back into the mess of blankets. He picked the controller back up from the foot of the bed and tried to kill fifteen minutes. For some reason, it had never held his attention less. </p>
<p>After only six minutes, Jisung heard the jangle of keys in the lock. It took the person a few seconds to get the door open. In the first second, he wondered how Minho could have gotten there so fast. In the second second, it occurred to him that Minho didn’t have keys, so it was more likely to be Felix. In the third, he remembered that Felix was in class right now, which was why Minho was the one bringing him lunch.</p>
<p>Then the door opened and in walked a random guy.</p>
<p>Jisung’s mouth dropped open. First he was confused. Then he was angry. He may be a dumbass, but he wasn’t stupid. Those were his keys in the stranger’s hands. Jisung knew he hadn’t forgotten them on Thursday. This vaguely familiar, frat looking buy stole them from the locker room.</p>
<p>Only then did it occur to Jisung to be frightened.</p>
<p>Jisung’s brain went into overdrive. His survival instincts told him to stall, to distract him until Minho showed up. Jisung swallowed down his anxiety and successfully replaced most of it with righteous anger. This asshole fucked up his and his teammates’ season; Jisung was going to end him.</p>
<p>Jisung quickly spit out, “Who the <em>fuck</em> are you?”</p>
<p>Frat guy sneered. “You don’t recognize me?”</p>
<p>At the frat guy’s snide tone, Jisung felt a shiver of recognition. He somehow knew this person. Had he seen him around the gym last night maybe?</p>
<p>Then it clicked. This asshole was the dumbass from the Halloween party, the one Jisung had drunkenly made out with. And he hadn’t even been that good.</p>
<p>Jisung sneered right back. “Oh, now I remember you. I’d tried to forget your shitty kissing, but now you’ve gone ahead and made me remember.” Jisung’s fists clenched in the blankets at his waist, but he hoped the douche didn’t notice. He was almost happy he didn’t know the guy’s name; it made it that much more fun to give him insulting names in his head.</p>
<p>“I’m here to finish what I started,” Frat-Idiot-Face said simply. The matter-of-fact way in which he spoke the words was enough to make the hair on Jisung’s arms stand on end. Finish what he started? What the fuck did that mean? Bitchass-Frat-Guy wouldn’t actually <em>kill</em> him? </p>
<p>Right? </p>
<p>Jisung scoured Frat-Shithead for a weapon, any indication that he would actually follow through on his threat. It didn’t look like he had any sort of weapon, but Jisung’s eyes lingered nervously over the lean muscle that made up most of Frat guy’s body. While drunk and looking to make out with someone, those biceps would’ve been a good thing; as it was, Jisung was less than enthused.</p>
<p>It was like Frat-Shithole could read his mind. He rolled his eyes condescendingly.</p>
<p>“Oh, don’t be a baby. I’m not actually going to kill you.”</p>
<p>Somehow that didn’t make Jisung feel that much better.</p>
<p>“I was never going to kill you,” Frat-Crapshoot continued. “I can’t risk going to jail and leaving Minho behind.” Jisung blinked. Frat-Crap sneered. “I can’t kill you, but I can hurt you if you don’t back off and leave Alice alone.”</p>
<p>Jisung’s mouth literally dropped open. He narrowed his eyes. Jisung began talking slowly, the way he imagined someone might speak to a cornered animal with claws. “What are you <em>talking</em> about?” Jisung winced a little when he heard the indignation in his voice, afraid of setting this particular cornered animal off.</p>
<p>Frat-Ass took several menacing steps forward. Despite Jisung’s best efforts, he couldn’t help the involuntary flinch away from Frat-Stinky-Boy’s menacing presence. Frat guy smiled, but the flash of teeth was cruel.</p>
<p>“My girlfriend. She’s been interested in you, although for the life of me I can’t imagine why.” Frat-Asshat’s glance up and down Jisung’s body was condescending and made Jisung feel like he’d been pinned to a board lab and dissected, skin laid bare.</p>
<p>Jisung’s voice didn’t waiver through sheer force of will when he said, “You’re wrong. Alice isn’t interested in me.”</p>
<p>Frat guy shrugged and glanced around the room, his eyes lighting up at the sight of Felix’s lacrosse stick leaning against the wall. While he strode the few steps across the small space to pick it up, Jisung cursed Felix’s love of the sport as a pastime outside volleyball.</p>
<p>“You can say whatever you want, but I’ve been watching her. She follows you places, steal your clothes. You can’t tell me she hasn’t somehow convinced herself she likes you.”</p>
<p>Frat guy gave the lacrosse stick a few lazy swings, like a warrior testing the weight and balance of a sword. He must’ve been pleased, because he looked back up at Jisung with the same cruel smile from earlier.</p>
<p>Jisung shivered and tried to find his phone as subtly as possible. God, why had he thrown it away so fast?</p>
<p>“No. No, you’re wrong!” Jisung said, voice slowly rising in volume and pitch as Frat guy stalked towards him. “She was doing that to ruin my life! Why else would she take that video of me and you from the party?”</p>
<p>Jisung breathed a sigh of relief when Frat guy momentarily paused, hands white with tension around the lacrosse stick. Jisung watched as various emotions flashed across Frat guy’s face, starting with anger and ending with resolve. Jisung’s hopes that he could talk sense into the asshole dissipated when Frat guy narrowed his eyes.</p>
<p>“Alice didn’t take that video. <em>I</em> did.” Frat guy didn’t allow Jisung to call him on his bullshit, saying, “I had my buddy take that video. I wanted to prove to Alice that you were a little cocksucker.” Frat guy sneered. “I sent it to her and waited for her to crawl back to me, but for some godforsaken reason she went to your volleyball game. So I went, too.” Frat guy swung Jisung’s keys around his finger with a wicked sneer. “That’s where I nabbed these.”</p>
<p>Jisung swallowed around a lump in his throat. The pieces falling into place did little to make him feel better about the current situation.</p>
<p>Frat guy started walking back towards Jisung, viciously adding, “Like I’d ever <em>actually<em> want to be with someone like <em>you.<em>”</em></em></em></em></p>
<p>
  <em>
    <em>
      <em>
        <em>Jisung ignored the jab and kept his focus on the lacrosse stick Frat guy was swinging slowly around the room.</em>
      </em>
    </em>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <em>
      <em>
        <em>Then a lot of things happened at once. Jisung felt his phone with his foot at the bottom of the bed, and he dove for it with lightning quick reflexes. </em>
      </em>
    </em>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <em>
      <em>
        <em>But he wasn’t fast enough. As if waiting for his movement, Frat guy quickly lifted the lacrosse stick above his head and sent it whistling down towards Jisung’s outstretched arms.</em>
      </em>
    </em>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <em>
      <em>
        <em>Instinct and years of reacting without thinking during volleyball was all that kept Jisung from having both of his arms broken. He dove out of the way, avoiding the powerful strike and slamming his shoulder into the wall with a sickening thud in the process.</em>
      </em>
    </em>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <em>
      <em>
        <em>Frat guy raised the lacrosse stick above his head again. Jisung’s muscles tensed in preparation to attempt another desperate dodge, although the chances of him successfully escaping unscathed this time were looking grim.</em>
      </em>
    </em>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <em>
      <em>
        <em>Then Frat guy and Jisung simultaneously flinched at the sound of the door opening.</em>
      </em>
    </em>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <em>
      <em>
        <em>“Hey, Jisung, I also brought some chicken tenders from the dining hall, I hope that’s-” Minho’s voice had never sounded as beautiful as it did in that moment. He cut off mid sentence when he took in the inhabitants of the room.</em>
      </em>
    </em>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <em>
      <em>
        <em>In seconds, the food in Minho’s hands crashed to the floor while Minho shoved Frat guy into the wall. The asshole slammed into the wall with an <em>oof</em>, the lacrosse stick falling to the ground with a clatter.</em>
      </em>
    </em>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <em>
      <em>
        <em>Minho shoved his forearm against the frat guy’s neck, holding him against the wall with his own bodyweight. Jisung could only watch on, slack-jawed.</em>
      </em>
    </em>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <em>
      <em>
        <em>“I don’t know who you are, and I don’t give a shit. You touch him again and I will kill you,” Minho snarled. </em>
      </em>
    </em>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <em>
      <em>
        <em>Frat guy snarled back. “I know you. You’re the other cocksucker. Alice used to hang around you, too.”</em>
      </em>
    </em>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <em>
      <em>
        <em>Minho, too smart for his own good, narrowed his eyes and pushed harder against Frat guy’s neck. Frat guy sputtered out a curse word.</em>
      </em>
    </em>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <em>
      <em>
        <em>“You’re the one who hurt my Jisung.” There was no question in Minho’s voice. There was also no trace of the kind person Jisung had grown to care about. There was only the cold bit of steel.</em>
      </em>
    </em>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <em>
      <em>
        <em>Frat guy bared his teeth. “Your precious little Jisung,” he spit out, “kept my Alice from coming back to me. She was mistakenly interested in him, but I’ll take care of that.”</em>
      </em>
    </em>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <em>
      <em>
        <em>Minho’s shoulders took on a dangerous stiffness, the kind of tense that preceded violence. However, his furious expression was replaced by a pitying smile.</em>
      </em>
    </em>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <em>
      <em>
        <em>“Oh you dumb mother-fucker,” said Minho, sickly sweet. He gave another push, making Frat guy choke. “It’s not Jisung that psychotic bitch was interested in.” Then Minho leaned in, and Jisung had to strain to hear him. “It was me.”</em>
      </em>
    </em>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <em>
      <em>
        <em>Frat guy froze for a split second, taking the words in. Then he exploded off of the wall with a force that surprised Jisung and stunned Minho long enough for the frat guy to push him off. Minho stumbled, and Frat guy came up on him so fast Jisung barely had to choke out Minho’s name before Frat guy grabbed Minho’s collar and slammed his knee into Minho’s stomach.</em>
      </em>
    </em>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <em>
      <em>
        <em>Minho grunted in pain, doubling over as much as he could with Frat guy still holding him by the shirt. Minho grabbed his wrists and attempted to tear him off, but Frat guy held on. Instead of trying to break free again, Minho got closer, entering Frat guy’s space and throwing a powerful elbow towards Frat guy’s face.</em>
      </em>
    </em>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <em>
      <em>
        <em>Jisung heard the crack of his nose breaking before he saw the blood.</em>
      </em>
    </em>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <em>
      <em>
        <em>Frat guy let out the most terrifyingly furious sound Jisung had ever heard, more animal than human, before letting go with one hand and punching Minho across the jaw, who tried to dodge. He managed to make the blow a glancing one, but the force was enough to send Minho sprawling to the ground.</em>
      </em>
    </em>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <em>
      <em>
        <em>Frat guy straddled Minho’s hips, pinning him to the ground with a grunt of victory. He raised one fist in the air, saying, “Any last words?”</em>
      </em>
    </em>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <em>
      <em>
        <em>Before Minho could respond, the whistle of the lacrosse stick echoed around the room for a second time as Jisung swung it with as much strength as he could muster against the frat guy’s wide target of a back. With a sickening crunch that Jisung knew he would never forget, Frat guy crumpled to the ground over Minho, howling in pain.</em>
      </em>
    </em>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <em>
      <em>
        <em>Minho pushed him aside, no hint of gentleness to his action. Frat guy didn’t put up a fight. Minho staggered to his feet, and Jisung breathed a sigh of relief when he didn’t appear to be obviously injured other than the bruise rapidly forming on his cheek. </em>
      </em>
    </em>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <em>
      <em>
        <em>Minho grabbed Jisung’s biceps, desperately taking in his features.</em>
      </em>
    </em>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <em>
      <em>
        <em>“Jisung, did he hurt you?” Minho’s voice was choked with thinly veiled concern. Jisung shook his head. The adrenaline slowly left his body as he took in the face of the boy he had grown to care about. </em>
      </em>
    </em>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <em>
      <em>
        <em>It was only then that his body caught up with his instinct-driven actions, and he said only, “Oh,” before his ankle gave out.</em>
      </em>
    </em>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <em>
      <em>
        <em>Luckily, Minho’s grip on his arms helped him to catch Jisung, scooping him up and placing him on his bed before Jisung could even thank him for not letting him fall. On the bed, Jisung’s phone lay screen up, showing that his phone call to 911 had been connected for two and a half minutes. </em>
      </em>
    </em>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <em>
      <em>
        <em>Had it only been that long since Jisung had called the cops? Since Minho had arrived? Since Frat guy had broken in? To Jisung, the encounter had felt like years.</em>
      </em>
    </em>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <em>
      <em>
        <em>Jisung winced as he felt his ankle twinge. He resisted the urge to stretch it and see how bad the damage was. Chances were, his ankle wasn’t too badly hurt, just unused to being used since the accident.</em>
      </em>
    </em>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <em>
      <em>
        <em>Minho sat next to him and picked up Jisung’s phone. As he brought it to his ears, Jisung could vaguely make out the sound of the 911 operator on the other end of the line saying that the cops were on their way and asking if anyone was still there. Minho told her they were.</em>
      </em>
    </em>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <em>
      <em>
        <em>When the operator asked what had happened to the perpetrator, Minho calmly said, “He’s still here, too. I think his ribs are broken. You should send over an ambulance, too.”</em>
      </em>
    </em>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <em>
      <em>
        <em>Jisung looked over at Frat guy still curled up on the ground, hands curled around his side. If his rasping breaths, small and painful, were anything to go by, then Minho was right. Jisung had broken his ribs. Jisung, unused to violence of any kind, had broken another human being’s ribs.</em>
      </em>
    </em>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <em>
      <em>
        <em>And Jisung would do it again in a second if it meant keeping Minho safe.</em>
      </em>
    </em>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <em>
      <em>
        <em>Minho spoke with the operator for a few more seconds, then he hung up when she told him he could. Jisung reached out and grabbed the hand not holding the phone. Minho looked over at him and squeezed.</em>
      </em>
    </em>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <em>
      <em>
        <em>Jisung cracked a little smile and watched as Minho’s lips quirked in response.</em>
      </em>
    </em>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <em>
      <em>
        <em>“Hey,” said Jisung, voice rough. </em>
      </em>
    </em>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <em>
      <em>
        <em>“Hey,” responded Minho. He rubbed his thumb over Jisung’s knuckles.</em>
      </em>
    </em>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <em>
      <em>
        <em>“Thanks for saving me,” said Jisung. As an afterthought, he added, “Again, I guess.”</em>
      </em>
    </em>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <em>
      <em>
        <em>Minho laughed. Then, more seriously, “I think you were the one doing the saving this time.”</em>
      </em>
    </em>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <em>
      <em>
        <em>“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” amended Jisung. He looked down at their intertwined hands. He lightly touched a new bruise on Minho’s forearm and frowned. “I’m sorry.”</em>
      </em>
    </em>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <em>
      <em>
        <em>Minho sighed at the light contact. “It’s not your fault, Jisung. It’s that asshole’s fault.” Minho sent a withering glare towards the slumped form of the frat guy still whining on the floor. “Besides, I’d do it again anyday. No one hurts the people I care about.”</em>
      </em>
    </em>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <em>
      <em>
        <em>Jisung cracked a smile.</em>
      </em>
    </em>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <em>
      <em>
        <em>“So you like like me, huh?”</em>
      </em>
    </em>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <em>
      <em>
        <em>Minho snorted, finally relaxing. He slumped onto the bed and wrapped his arms around Jisung’s waist, pressing his face against Jisung’s stomach. Jisung hesitantly ran a hand through his hair. Minho hummed in approval.</em>
      </em>
    </em>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <em>
      <em>
        <em>“I can’t believe I was worried about you,” Minho joked, voice muffled by Jisung’s shirt. “How dare you make fun of me at a time like this. How many times am I going to walk in on you being hurt by random fucking people?”</em>
      </em>
    </em>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <em>
      <em>
        <em>Jisung threw his head back and laughed. He never thought there’d be a day that having the police heading his way would be considered a good thing, but in this moment, with the cops called, Frat guy whimpering on the floor, and Minho practically in his lap, Jisung felt absolutely amazing.</em>
      </em>
    </em>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <em>
      <em>
        <em>Then Jisung snorted. Minho turned his head just far enough to look at Jisung with one eye, which he narrowed. </em>
      </em>
    </em>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <em>
      <em>
        <em>“What?” Minho asked, suspicious.</em>
      </em>
    </em>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <em>
      <em>
        <em>“I was thinking about how one of the reasons you used to annoy me in high school was because you always had these girls hanging all over you and I was jealous. Looking back, I was probably jealous of them more than I was of you,” Jisung mused. “But holy shit, if I knew they could attract this kind of craziness, I never would’ve wanted fangirls for myself.”</em>
      </em>
    </em>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
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    <em>
      <em>
        <em>Minho laughed, the sound muffled in Jisung’s shirt. He stopped laughing when Jisung poked his shoulder urging him to look up, although he never stopped smiling. Jisung gazed down at him fondly. When Jisung didn’t say anything, Minho said, “Jisung?”</em>
      </em>
    </em>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <em>
      <em>
        <em>Jisung reached up a hand and tapped a finger against his lips. “I actually think I did get a bit hurt. I’m feeling sore for some reason. Would you kiss it and make it better?” </em>
      </em>
    </em>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <em>
      <em>
        <em>Minho blinked. Then he blinked again. Then he laughed so hard Jisung could feel it against his body. Minho pushed himself up with one arm, leaning over Jisung. He was still chuckling as he brought their eyes level with one another.</em>
      </em>
    </em>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <em>
      <em>
        <em>“If I didn’t want to kiss you so bad, I would probably smack you for that line.”</em>
      </em>
    </em>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <em>
      <em>
        <em>Jisung’s snicker was cut short by the press of Minho’s lips against his. He guessed if he couldn’t play volleyball for a few weeks, there were worse ways to spend his time.</em>
      </em>
    </em>
  </em>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>hi again everyone! I usually only do one author's note, but I decided to switch things up and do two for this chapter! thanks for everyone who left me really nice and encouraging comments! i read every single one and would come back to them anytime i wanted to just quit in the middle, so thank you to everyone for keeping me going &lt;3</p>
<p>also, I would like to say that either I am incredibly super-duper phenomenally skilled (this is sarcasm) at foreshadowing, or you guys are really stinking smart wth? so many people guessed exactly where the story was going, so i hope that it still lived up to your expectations! could your amazing guesses also potentially be related to the fact that i was too lazy to include other characters, therefore making it pretty easy to tell who the bad guys were? maybe. let's not talk about it lol</p>
<p>love you all &lt;3 thanks for sticking around for my longest fic yet</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. epilogue</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Talking with the cops was even less fun the second time around. You’d think that they’d be apologetic for doing a shit job of finding the culprit, but instead, they’d almost charged Minho with assault until Jisung provided an official witness statement saying he’d protected him. Not to mention Jisung’s own actions being a defense of himself and Minho. At the end of the day, the evidence showed that the frat guy had gone to Jisung’s room of his own accord to start shit, so the cops were forced to go along with Jisung and Minho’s version of the events.</p><p>Needless to say, Jisung was ecstatic when the doctor told him he was allowed to leave his room a couple of days later. Being cooped up in his room had been hell, but being cooped up in his room with a bunch of inadequate police officers had been immeasurably worse.</p><p>So, of course, the first thing Jisung wanted to do was go on a date with Minho. </p><p>All it took was Jisung needling Minho for five minutes, reminding him of the time that Minho said he’d take him to the movies for Minho to give in and promise to pay. </p><p>Any hope that their date would be really cute and romantic like in the movies was dashed the second they arrived at the movie theater.</p><p>“You’re telling me the first movie you want to watch as a couple is one where the couple dies?” Minho’s voice was incredulous.</p><p>Jisung bristled. “It’s got a ninety-eight percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes! And maybe I just want to cry and experience my feelings and be comforted by my boyfriend! Is that too much to ask?”</p><p>Their argument about which movie they would watch continued all the way from the car to the ticket booth. Finally, prompted by the exasperated expression on the teenage girl behind the ticket counter, they decided on the most recent romcom where the most interesting plot point involved a simple misunderstanding that could’ve been solved with a single conversation.</p><p>They continued bickering good-naturedly about the movie as they walked up to the snack counter, then they bickered over who would get to pay for snacks, and then they bickered over where they should sit in the movie theater. </p><p>The last topic was less bickering as it was flirting, especially since they were mostly in agreement. Jisung wanted to sit in the back row so that he could put his feet up on the empty  seats in front of him without bothering anyone. Minho, on the other hand, wanted to sit in the back row so that he could steal kisses from Jisung without offending any local soccer moms with their indecency.</p><p>Their conversation continued in a similar manner all the way to the butter stand, where it evolved into them bickering over how much butter to use. Minho had just snatched the bucket of popcorn from Jisung’s hands to stop him from adding anymore when they heard a gasp.</p><p>“Jisung?” Hyunjin’s voice was surprised.</p><p>Jisung, who was already facing that direction, saw Hyunjin’s eyes widen even further when Minho turned around upon hearing Jisung’s name and grinned when he said, even more surprised, “Minho?”</p><p>“Hey Hyunjin!” Jisung’s sharp eyes took in the two sodas in Hyunjin’s hands. His voice was teasing as he asked, “Here on a date?”</p><p>Jisung was delighted when Hyunjin’s cheeks immediately flushed. Minho huffed with amusement. Nailed it.</p><p>Jisung opened his mouth to tease Hyunjin further when he was interrupted by a new voice from behind him and Minho saying, “Hyunjin, where’d you go?</p><p>Jisung and Minho turned simultaneously, startling Changbin, the source of the voice. Like a bad sitcom, the three of them stared at each other in disbelief for a few seconds, Hyunjin cringing in the background.</p><p>It clicked for Minho first.</p><p>“Oh my god,” said Minho.</p><p>Jisung was still a little behind. It took a glance at Minho and the way his gaze was darting back and forth for Jisung to finally understand.</p><p>“No fucking way.” Jisung’s words came out slightly too loud, but he couldn’t stop the raise in his voice in his excitement. “You guys are on a date? Together?”</p><p>Incredibly, Hyunjin’s blush got even worse, and Changbin rubbed the hand not holding a popcorn bucket over the back of his neck sheepishly. They both nodded.</p><p>Jisung darted forward and scooped Hyunjin up into a hug as best he could considering he was several inches shorter than the middle blocker. Hyunjin laughed, startled, as Jisung lifted his feet slightly off the ground. He gave a small smile when Jisung finally set him down.</p><p>“So I take it you’re happy for us?” Hyunjin asked.</p><p>“Happy?” said Jisung. “Try <em>ecstatic!</em> Do you know how frustrating it was to watch you two dance around each other?”</p><p>Changbin choked. Minho winced, most likely already anticipating the scathing remarks they were about to receive. </p><p>Sure enough, Changbin’s voice was incredulous when he said, “Are you serious? You two were the fucking <em>poster</em> for dancing around each other! Just because we didn’t announce when we got together doesn’t mean we weren’t talking on our own!” </p><p>Jisung opened his mouth to reply, thought better, and closed it again. Minho laughed, patting Changbin on the arm.</p><p>Minho jokingly imitated the condescending tone of an adult to a child when he said, “Listen, Changbin. There’s no need to be feisty. Jisung and I would <em>never</em> judge.”</p><p>Jisung nodded solemnly, going along with the bit. Next to him, Hyunjing giggled quietly. Across from them, Changbin bristled for half a second, despondent at finding himself once again at the mercy of Minho and Jisung’s combined teasing. Then he sighed and gave a grudging eye roll.</p><p>“Thanks.” Changbin’s sarcasm was as obvious as a neon sign at night. Sharing a look, Minho and Jisung both burst out laughing, and it took only a few seconds for Hyunjin to join in, too. At that, Changbin mournfully said, ‘Et tu, Brute?”</p><p>Changbin gave them four full seconds to enjoy their little joke before he said, “So what movie are you guys here to see?”</p><p>Minho wiped a nonexistent tear from his eye. There were still traces of laughter in his voice when he said, “That new romcom.”</p><p>“The one where the couple dies?” asked Hyunjin.</p><p>“Nah, the other one,” responded Jisung, showing him their tickets. Hyunjin grinned, pulling matches tickets out of his pocket. Upon realising the four of them were slated to be in the same theater, Jisung and Hyunjin high-fived, slapping their hands together as Changbin groaned and Minho patted him on the back again.</p><p>As a group they made their way down the large hallway, handing off their tickets so the bored usher could check them. They were just entering the dark theater as when Jisung had a sudden thought. He scratched his chin, pondering, before speaking slowly.</p><p>“So, wait. When exactly did you guys get together?”</p><p>Hyunjin, who was ahead of Jisung on the stairs leading up to the top seats, shrugged. “Like a month ago?” he said, more of a question than an answer. He looked at Changbin, who nodded. “Why?”</p><p>Jisung groaned. “It just means that you two got your shit together before we did.” The four of them slumped into their seats at the very back of the theater. He didn’t even realize he was pouting until Minho reached over and tugged on his bottom lip.</p><p>“It’s okay, baby. We got there eventually,” Minho said teasingly.</p><p>Jisung had never been more grateful to be in a dark room. He could practically feel the heat in his cheeks. He jokingly slapped Minho’s hand away, and when Minho feigned a hurt expression, he grabbed his now free hand and slipped their fingers together. Minho smiled and gave his hand a squeeze.</p><p>Minho’s eyes crinkled with happiness, causing Jisung’s heart to skip a beat. Minho started rubbing his thumb over Jisung’s knuckles, and Jisung gulped.</p><p>Minho leaned in, his lips brushing against Jisung’s ear. He whispered, “So much for my plan to steal kisses from you during the entire movie.”</p><p>Jisung snorted and smacked his shoulder, ignoring the rush of blood to his cheeks. At the same time, Changbin, who was sitting on the other side of Minho, choked on a piece of popcorn. Minho turned and whacked him a couple of times on the back. Changbin waved him off.</p><p>Changbin’s voice was a mix of amusement and disgust when he said, “Keep your thieving hands off me. You won’t be taking any kisses from <em>me</em> during this movie, no matter how bad you want them.”</p><p>Now it was Minho’s turn to make a choked sound. On the other side of Changbin, Hyunjin burst out laughing. Minho slumped back into his seat and crossed his arms, ignoring their laughter at his expense. Jisung couldn’t see his blush in the dark, but he knew it was there, and the thought sent butterflies through his stomach.</p><p>When it took Changbin and Hyunjin a full thirty seconds to calm down, Minho muttered to himself, “I didn’t think it was <em>that</em> cringey.”</p><p>Now it was Jisung’s turn to tug at Minho’s bottom lip to release it from a pout. He reached over to do so with his free hand. When Minho realized what he was doing, he gave the hand still in his grip an appreciative squeeze.</p><p>Jisung smiled. “It’s okay baby,” said Jisung, echoing Minho’s words from earlier. “I still like you even if you say the cringiest shit ever.”</p><p>Minho pouted again.</p><p>The four of them continued teasing each other until the lights dimmed further, signalling the start of the movie. Even then, it took a group of pre-teens turning around and shushing them indignantly to get them to fully quiet down.</p><p>As the opening scene started playing, Jisung felt Minho’s thumb once again start to brush over his knuckle.</p><p>So of course, in an effort to not be outdone in the romantic department, Jisung darted his face into Minho’s personal space and planted his lips on Minho’s surprised mouth. Minho’s surprised squawk was enough to punch a laugh out of Jisung, louder than he meant it to be. Unsurprisingly, the pre-teens in front of them turned around to give them scathing glares and a chorus of shushes.</p><p>Minho squeezed his hand again as Jisung leaned back into his seat, and Jisung thought to himself that stealing that kiss was definitely worth any amount of teasing from his teammates later.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Oh hey ;) didn't see you there ;)</p><p>It's me!!!!! SURPRISE! Here's an epilogue for anyone who's still subscribed to this lol</p><p>I wanted to give them their date! And also I wanted more changjin because I love them!!!!! and when you're the author you're allowed to do whatever you want hehehe. anways, this time I'm really done! like for real! i don't have any more ideas for our lovely volleyball boys unfortunately, so it is at this time that i release them into the world (past this i kind of imagine them going pro on opposing teams or maybe the same team or maybe they dont go pro, maybe they just take over the volleyball program as coaches or maybe they go on to fulfill whatever their majors are and become successful at their jobs so that they can fund any and all of their hobbies which definitely include raising like six cats)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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